Defendants in fatal shooting of Fairfield man to face trial separately

Butler County judge reschedules two trials for October

A Butler County judge ruled this morning that two people accused in the botched armed robbery that ended in the shooting death of a 19-year-old Fairfield man should be tried separately and not together as planned.

The four-day trial of Jerry Eacholes, 26, of Middletown and Christia Frymire, 20, of Fairfield, was scheduled to begin today in Butler County Common Pleas Judge Patricia Oney’s courtroom. But prior to jury selection, Melynda Cook and Frank Schiavone IV, attorneys for the defendants, argued that the cases should be severed because some evidence, including a cell phone image of a man holding a gun, and statements presented at trial might be prejudicial toward one of the accused.

After hearing the arguments, Oney agreed the defendants should be tried separately and severed their cases. The judge was still going to move forward with Eacholes’ trial today, because he was the first of the two accused to be indicted, but prosecutors asked for a continuance so they could rethink their strategy since they had been preparing to try both defendants together. Oney granted the request, and now both Eacholes and Frymire will face trial in October.

Eacholes is now scheduled to stand trial Oct. 1 and Frymire on Oct. 8. Both trials are scheduled for four days.

Eacholes and Frymire are the last two of five people accused in the death of Julian Slaven, of Fairfield. Both face charges of murder, aggravated robbery and aggravated burglary.

Joseph Goodin, 26, of Middletown, who fired the shot that killed Slaven on Nov. 24, pleaded guilty in April and was sentenced to 18 years to life in prison. His attorney said the fatal shot was fired by accident.

Last month, Misty Williams, 19, of Hamilton, also received an 18 years to life sentence after admitting guilt to the same charges. Williams, a former Fairfield High School cheerleader, and Slaven were childhood friends, and she was the person who placed the call setting up the robbery and shooting, prosecutors said. Williams’ family members and attorney said she was addicted to heroin at the time of the incident.

Anthony Givens, 21, of Hamilton, pleaded guilty in April and was sentenced to 18 years to life for his part in the incident.

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