Defense proposes alternative killer in Donte Parker II murder trial

ELYRIA — During the first day of Donte Parker II's murder trial, both the defense and prosecution agreed that Leonard McCall Jr. was killed in a robbery gone wrong in Lorain in November 2024. Where they disagreed in their opening statements on Tuesday was on whether Parker, 25, was the one who pulled the trigger. The Lorain County Prosecutor's Office alleges that Parker, of Elyria, entered the home of McCall's stepbrother at 456 W. 14th Street in Lorain on the evening of Monday Nov. 25, 2024, and demanded money before shooting McCall and stealing a PlayStation 5 gaming console. In her opening statement Tuesday, Assistant Lorain County Prosecutor Andrea Isabella said that months of legwork by Lorain police eventually revealed Parker as the man that shot McCall, 39, seven times, killing him. She told the jury that they would hear evidence that Parker admitted to killing McCall on the phone to his mother shortly after the shooting, in front of two witnesses. She also cited video evidence showing Parker selling the stolen gaming console, for which he received $180. "How much is a person's life, is it priceless? Or is it in this case, $180?" she said. The prosecution also argued that cellphone call records and location data would make it clear that Parker was the one who killed Leonard McCall, and the jury would find this to be the truth beyond a reasonable doubt. Defense attorney Scott Smith, who is representing Parker, opened his case by not only by attempting to poke holes in the story laid out by the prosecution, but by presenting his own theory of who killed Leonard McCall. Smith said that there was no physical evidence or witness testimony to place Parker at the scene of the crime, and that there was no connection between Parker and McCall that would have made him a reasonable suspect. "The police did check the scene, and they did not find any DNA from Donte, they did not find any hairs from Donte, they did not find any blood from Donte," Smith said. "There was nothing at the scene that places Donte there, nothing. There is no direct evidence that Donte Parker was the shooter in this case." Smith laid the blame for the robbery and shooting on a Lorain man named Cerrius Shelton, who Smith said had come up several times during the investigation but had refused to talk to police. "I am going to argue that he (Shelton) didn't talk because he was the one that shot Leonard McCall," Smith said. Unlike Parker, Smith argued, Shelton did have a personal connection to McCall. Smith also accused Shelton of being a drug dealer. Shelton has never been charged by police in connection with McCall's shooting. Smith also argued that the witness to Parker's alleged confession was unreliable and that just because Parker's phone was in the area of the shooting, that did not mean that he had been at the scene of the crime or even in the area. A stepmother's testimony The first witness called to the stand was Jacqueline Lewis, the stepmother of Leonard McCall and the mother of Marquay McCall, who lived at the home on W. 14th Street where Leonard McCall was shot and killed. Lewis testified that she had been with her son and stepson at the home shortly before the shooting occurred, talking to the boys about upcoming Thanksgiving plans. She said that she left, but shortly after arriving at her own home nearby she received a call from Marquay from a neighbor's phone. She said she learned that the men had been robbed and that McCall had been shot, so she said she grabbed her daughter and rushed back to the house. Lewis found McCall lying on the ground at the base of the home's front steps bleeding. In 911 recordings, a frantic Lewis can be heard telling a dispatcher that she does not know who shot her stepson, and pleading with them to hurry. Police and LifeCare Ambulance personnel rendered first aid, but McCall died at the scene. During his cross-examination, Smith asked Lewis if she remembered making social media posts the evening of the shooting or in the days after. She said she did not. Smith asked Lewis when she started to blame Parker for the shooting, which she said took about two weeks. Later during her testimony she said that she meant she began to blame Parker personally after two weeks, but insisted she did not post on social media that he was the killer until he was charged. "So you are playing detective and you were blaming Donte Parker for the shooting, is that right?" Smith asked Lewis. "Playing detective?" Lewis said. "When I'm being a mother to my kids? And someone hurt them? That is not playing detective." Lewis said that people in the community did not hear from her that Parker had shot her son, but that the "streets were talking." Smith asked if Lewis was aware whether McCall knew Cerrius Shelton personally, and she responded that her whole family did, adding that Shelton's brother and Marquay were best friends. She said she had never seen McCall and Parker together. The initial investigation The Lorain County Prosecutor's Office next called two current and one former Lorain police officers to the stand. Officers Adam Rodriguez and Daniel Urbin testified that they received a call of shots fired and a man potentially shot at 8:52 p.m. on the night of the shooting. They were the first officers on the scene, arriving to find McCall on the ground in front of the home's steps bleeding. Urbin attempted to perform first aid until LifeCare EMTs took over, but he said that based on his training he did not believe McCall was showing any signs of life when they reached him. Rodriguez testified that he interviewed a woman at the scene who was identified as McCall's sister, but there was no testimony about the details of that interview. Next to testify was former Lorain police detective Brian Denman, who worked in the department's evidence room at the time of the shooting and was assigned to collect evidence at the scene. Denman testified that in his investigation he found 10 bullet casings and two projectiles between the porch and the living room of the home. Those casings, which came from various brands of 9 mm ammunition, were tested for DNA but the results of that testing were inconclusive, Denman said. Denman also located a handgun magazine in a drawer in the home's bedroom, but said he believed it belonged to the residents. He also testified that a bullet hole was found in one of the interior walls of the home, where it struck after passing through and shattering a fish tank. He said this break left water, aquarium rocks and fish strewn across the floor of the living room. Denman also testified that the front door of the home showed no signs of forced entry and had a set of keys still inside of it. On cross examination, Smith picked at Denman's investigation, questioning why a variety of items — including five cellphones, the front door and a number of cups and bottles — at the home were not taken into evidence and swabbed for DNA. Denman also testified that no blood was found inside the home and Smith questioned how that was possible if the shooting had occurred in the living room as the prosecution suggested. Assistant Lorain County Prosecutor Matt Kern asked Denman if it was possible that the bullets that struck McCall had lodged inside his body and thus not drawn blood until he had exited the home, which Denman said was possible. Denman also testified, in response to another question from Kern, that water and debris from the broken aquarium could have washed away or obscured blood that had been on the floor. Additionally, Smith asked Denman if any bullet holes were found to have struck the floor of the living room, and Denman said no evidence of that was found. The trial will continue at 9 a.m. today before Lorain County Common Pleas Judge Raymond Ewers. Parker faces 24 charges in the case, including numerous felony murder charges. He was arrested following a monthslong manhunt last year after he escaped Elyria police — who were arresting him on charges unrelated to McCall's slaying — while wearing handcuffs and fled the state. Contact Owen MacMillan at 440-329-7123 or omacmillan@chroniclet.com.