Closing arguments today in Parmely Avenue raid mom's GoFundMe fraud, theft trial

ELYRIA — The case of Courtney Price, a Kentucky woman charged with misusing thousands of dollars raised by a GoFundMe to help pay her child's medical bills, will go to a jury today (Thursday) after two days of testimony ended Wednesday. Assistant Lorain County Prosecutor Paul Griffin and defense attorney Amir Gholizadeh both rested their cases Wednesday in Lorain County Common Pleas Court, and Judge Chris Cook said jurors will get the case after closing arguments and jury instructions. Price, 27, is charged with telecommunications fraud, grand theft and falsification in a theft offense, all felonies. She chose not to testify in her own defense. Prosecutors said Price stole thousands of dollars from the "Justice for Waylon" GoFundMe campaign she started in 2024 and used it to buy a used Kia Soul ($5,500), new cellphones for her and her sister ($2,300), to pay for her sister's tattoo, vaping supplies and takeout, among other expenses. That's not what the GoFundMe campaign was intended for, Griffin argued. Gholizadeh argued that the campaign said donations would also be used for "necessities," which could include transportation, communication devices, food and more. He has alleged that the investigation and prosecution are retaliation for Price suing the city and the Elyria Police Department after her aunt's rental house on Parmely Avenue was mistakenly raided on Jan. 10, 2024, as officers tried to track down stolen guns that Price and her family had nothing to do with. Price was living in Elyria with her son Waylon, who was scheduled to have open heart surgery in Cleveland on that day when Elyria police raided the house. Police set off flash-bang distraction devices outside, broke windows, battered down the door and put Price in handcuffs. It was the wrong address, with Elyria police conducting the raid based on bad information given to them by a juvenile suspect who had not lived there for about a year. In the meantime, Price told family members and the media she was kept away from Waylon for up to 45 minutes, though video taken at the scene and later released to the public showed it was closer to 10 minutes. By the time police released the video, the GoFundMe was up and running with Price's version of events. Griffin alleged in court that Price changed her written account after the new evidence came out. Price's defense in court was that her aunt, Redia Jennings, set up the account after the raid, lied about it and misspent the money donated for Waylon, who was 17 months old at the time. Jennings took the witness stand Wednesday and denied any wrongdoing. "I did not have anything to do with setting up that account," she testified. Price and another family member were the ones who set up the GoFundMe using her banking information, Jennings testified, and all she did was transfer the donations to Price via Cash App. Jennings said she never saw Price use the money for medical supplies for Waylon, who had medical insurance through Kentucky. "I think a lot of people were asking (Price) for money," Jennings testified. She added later: "I was under the impression she was giving too much money away. The money was being spent really fast." The defense attacked Jennings' credibility. She admitted she used $10,000 to $12,000 of the GoFundMe proceeds to fix damage caused by a fire at the Parmely Avenue house that happened more than a week after the raid. Jennings, who didn't allow smoking in the house, testified that Price did so anyway and tossed a lit cigarette out a window late one night. That set the outside of the house on fire, which was put out by the Elyria Fire Department. No one was injured, but the house was damaged and Jennings didn't have renters insurance. She testified that she wasn't mad at Price for accidentally starting the fire. "I knew she was going through a lot. She was stressed out, I was stressed out," Jennings testified. "I was upset because my house was burned, don't get me wrong. ... I knew (Price) was emotionally in a bad place. I was, too. I try to give her grace." Jennings has not been charged with any crimes, but the defense called witnesses on Wednesday who attacked her credibility. One was her estranged mother, Patsy Williamson. "I don't believe a word (Jennings) says," Williamson testified. Cook wouldn't allow Gholizadeh to call Jennings a liar directly. It's up to the jury "to judge whether she's credible on the stand," Cook said during a break in testimony. He also denied two motions Gholizadeh made to acquit Price based on insufficient evidence. Cook said it is up to the jury to decide if the prosecution proved its case. With the jury out of the room, Cook questioned whether the prosecution had provided specific-enough dollar figures to sustain the charges, which required Griffin to prove that more than $7,500 had been stolen. Gholizadeh had suggested the amount of misspent money could be much lower than $48,500, but Cook told him and Griffin it is "up to jurors to determine which expenditures are questionable." Gholizadeh on Tuesday argued that his client is being prosecuted in retaliation for suing the city, Elyria Police Department and individual Elyria police officers involved in the raid for $5 million in U.S. District Court in Cleveland. The lawsuit is pending. Contact Dave O'Brien at (440) 329-7129 or dobrien@chroniclet.com.