Testimony will continue Friday in the trial for the third and final suspect in the murder of a Struthers boy.

Opening statements were heard Thursday in the trial of 21-year-old Brandon Crump who is accused of being the triggerman in a deadly home invasion that claimed the life of four-year-old Rowan Sweeney of Struthers.

During opening statements, the prosecution described the night of the crime. "Four year old Rowan Sweeney is asleep on the couch at his mother's house ... when he was brutally and mercilessly executed. ... He was two weeks shy of his fifth birthday," the prosecution said.

The prosecution went on to describe the events leading up to the crime, speaking about how hours prior, Yarnell Green Jr. was bragging about pandemic relief money he had received.

Prosecutors say this led to a text chain amongst two suspects: Kimonie Bryant and Andre McCoy planning a robbery, which led to Bryant getting Crump involved.

Prosecutors say around 2:00 a.m. Crump "burst through the front door" and shot McCoy and everyone else in the home including Sweeney. 

The prosecution went on to say the victim was described as a "Black male in a red jacket" and that cell phone records from Crump reveal a video of the hand and arm of a Black male in a red jacket spreading out cash.

Prosecutors say another video shows Crump holding a 45 caliber handgun, the same weapon used in the murder and that the shell casings from the scene had Crump's DNA on it. 

The defense's opening statement acknowledged the DNA on the shell casings and the videos on Crump's phone, but asked the question of how and when that DNA got there stating that "no expert in the world" can tell you that.

The defense also stated that there is evidence of communications between McCoy and Bryant, but none of Crump and McCoy or Bryant.  

The first witness called to the stand was Rowan's father, David Sweeney. Sweeney testified that he did share custody with Rowan at the time with him being in his mother's custody that weekend.

David testified that on the morning of the murder, he woke up to a knock at the door from his mother at 3:00 to tell him Rowan had been killed. He says he "immediately broke down."

"It changed me completely. It just really hurt me, and as every father, you want every chance to teach your kids something in life. I now no longer have that chance," Sweeney said.

Next up was Rowan's mother, Alexis Schneider, who was with him on the morning of the crime. She testified that Rowan spent the majority of that weekend with his grandmother.

Around midnight, Schneider testified that she and Green picked Rowan up and went back home. He went to sleep on the couch because he would usually come downstairs to sleep with Schneider on the couch.

Schneider testified that McCoy and Cassandra Marsicola were going to come over to smoke marijuana with her and Green. Schneider testified that McCoy and Marsicola were dating.

Schneider testified that Green laid the pandemic unemployment funds of about $4 to $5,000 on the table. She stated that Marsicola was acting strangely at this time, opting not to sit next to her and Rowan and that Marsicola and McCoy were on their phones the whole time.

She then described the events of the murder stating that Andre was shot first followed by Schneider immediately covering up Rowan with her body.

"I was begging him not to kill my baby, not to take his life. He was sleeping and not to hurt him," Schneider said.

Schneider testified that Crump replied, "Shut the f**k up, dumb b***h" and shot Rowan.

Schneider testified that she did not know how many shots were fired, but that she heard a couple of clicks after the shots stopped indicating there was no ammo left in the gun. Schneider then said the robbers took the money and ran.

Schneider went on to testify that she had been transported to the hospital, and photos were shown in the courtroom of Schneider in the hospital.

Schneider testified that she knew that Crump was the killer because she was shown a photo of him at Rowan's birthday party October 4 and instantly recognized him. She says she had never known of or met Crump prior to the murder.

During a cross-examination from the defense, Schneider testified that Marsicola and McCoy came to her house Saturday, September 19. Schneider says Green never showed off his unemployment money during that time.

As the cross-examination continued, Schneider testified that when Green laid the money out on the table, she considered that "kinda weird" to put it in front of other people.

Schneider said the barrel of the gun used in the murder had a light on it. She testified that once shots were fired, she immediately stopped looking at the gun and focused on protecting Rowan.

Schneider testified that she only looked up when Green told her to run and the shooter was approaching her. 

During the cross examination, Schneider was questioned on an interview she had with police where she was shown an image of Bryant and recognized him and got emotional.

Schneider testified that he "looked familiar" and that he "followed her on social media." 

The defense also mentioned parts of interviews with detectives where Schneider positively identified Bryant in a lineup of potential suspects. 

When the prosecution asked about this, Schneider testified that this was before she had seen the previously mentioned picture of Crump at Rowan's birthday party.

When pressed by the defense, Schneider testified that Green showed her the picture of Crump, but not the police.

Schneider further testified that before seeing the photo of Crump, she saw Bryant's picture all over social media and associated the face with those reports, stating that she believed if someone turned themselves in for a crime, they must have done it.

After a break that lasted a little over an hour, testimony resumed with one of the police officers who had responded to the scene of the crime called up to the stand.

The officer testified being alerted to the shooting at 1:52 a.m. and arriving about three minutes later. The officer said the first thing he saw at the scene was four adults in the living room area including Marsicola, McCoy, Schneider and Green.

The officer said all four of these people were shot and Rowan was no longer breathing.

The officer testified that he asked McCoy who shot him, but he was "just mumbling." 

During the officer's testimony, videos recorded by the officer on a cell phone were played for the court. The officer said Struthers Police did not have body cameras at the time of the incident.

After the videos were played, the defense cross-examined the officer. The officer stated that he did not start recording the video until the house was cleared testifying the reason he started recording was to show what the scene was like before paramedics arrived.

During the cross-examination, the officer echoed earlier testimony that the shooter was described as a "tall Black male in a red jacket and possibly black gloves." The officer testified no specific height was given.

The officer also echoed testimony that the murder weapon had a light on it and further testified that he was on the scene for between six to six-and-a-half hours.

After a short recess following the officer's testimony, Marsicola took the stand to testify. During her testimony, Marsicola revealed she'd been dating McCoy since 2019 and spent a lot of time with him.

Marsicola testified that she knew Bryant to be McCoy's friend and that they would go over his house sometimes and that she had given him a ride home in the past. However, she testified that she did not know Crump prior to the shooting.

Marsicola testified that she and McCoy did see Bryant on his street to pick up drugs earlier before arriving at Scnheider's house, but did not hear what the two were talking about.

Marsicola further testified that when they were at Schneider's home, McCoy was texting her on her phone that "he wanted to take [Green's] s**t" but then said "never mind." She testified the murder occurred shortly after this exchange.

Marsicola says when the incident occurred, she was pushed on the ground by one of the suspects followed by McCoy being shot when he stood up.

She then echoed earlier testimony that Green was shot next followed by the exchange between Schneider and the gunman. Marsicola testified that she was the last one shot in her ankle, thigh and shoulder.

Marsicola testified that the gunman was a Black male who had a "red puffer coat on" and was wearing black pants. She also testified that "it seemed like he was eight feet tall."

During a cross-examination, Marsicola said in reality, the gunman was at least six feet tall.

During her testimony, Marsicola said officers were "drilling her" when they presented her with a lineup of suspects constantly asking her if she recognized anyone and that she felt like it was not an option to not pick someone or say she didn't know.

Marsicola testified that she picked Bryant out of the six suspects shown, but when asked if she knew who the shooter was today, she said she didn't know. She also testified that before picking Bryant, she had picked a different suspect from the list.

"They made me feel like I was a piece of s**t for not knowing who was in that room," Marsicola said.

During the cross examination, Marsicola said she believed she recognized the Bryant's eyes, which is what led her to pick him.

During the cross-examination, Marsicola revealed that she is no longer dating McCoy and hasn't talked to him since the murder. She testified that she blames McCoy for this incident.

When asked about the text message exchange between her and McCoy, Marsicola testified the last message was sent about 1:36 a.m., about 20 minutes before the murder. Marsicola also admitted to deleting this messages.

Following Marsicola's testimony and cross-examination, a Struthers Police captain who had responded to the scene was called to the stand. During his testimony, the captain described the scene as "basically chaos." 

Unlike the previous officer, this captain did not take any cell phone video of the scene.

The other two suspects involved in the crime have already entered guilty pleas with Bryant pleading guilty to one count of Aggravated Murder and McCoy pled guilty to four counts of aggravated murder and one count of attempted murder.

Neither have been sentenced at this time.