'It's not about murder': Akron man argues he shot, killed Dominic Gray in self-defense

For attorney Adam VanHo, the murder trial of his 21-year-old Akron client does not come down to who shot and killed Dominic Gray last September. It comes down to why his client pulled the trigger.

"At the end of the day, it's not about murder. It's about self-defense," VanHo said in his opening statement Tuesday morning on the first day of trial.

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His client, Thomas Ellis, is charged with murder, felony murder, felonious assault and firearm specifications in the death of Gray, who was shot four times Sept. 8 on the 800 block of Beardsley Street. Ellis and his attorneys argued Gray was fighting with his girlfriend when Ellis intervened and acted in self-defense. Summit County Common Pleas Judge Susan Baker Ross is presiding over the trial.

Assistant Summit County Prosecutor Jamila Mitchell hopes to sink the self-defense argument by using witnesses to show there was no immediate danger to Ellis or anyone else.

What led to the fatal shooting of Dominic Gray?

Jurors heard two versions of the incident.

At the time of the shooting last year, Gray and his girlfriend were short on money and struggled with drug addiction, Mitchell said. Homeless, they lived in the basement of an apartment building on Beardsley Street.

On Sept. 8, his girlfriend came home after visiting her children. In a good mood, the couple decided to dress up but had no bathroom, Mitchell explained. To clean up, they would ask a tenant to use a restroom at one of two apartment buildings.

They argued about which building to use, so they headed in different directions, she said. The girlfriend ran into a friend who invited her to clean up at her place. That's when she heard four gunshots.

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When she followed the sound, she found her boyfriend, Gray, lying in the front yard one lot over from their apartment basement.

Defense counters with different version of events

VanHo said Gray was fighting with his girlfriend when Ellis heard and saw the altercation. Confronting him, Ellis noticed Gray was acting erratic but told him to leave her alone. That's when Gray attempted to charge Ellis and verbally threatened to kill him.

Fearing for his safety and the girlfriend's, Ellis shot Gray four times. Three bullets struck his legs. A fourth hit his torso.

VanHo said a Summit County Medical Examiner's report showed that Gray had methamphetamines and alcohol in his system at almost 14 times the legal limit to operate a motor vehicle.

A few days before the shooting, Ellis had seen Gray fight with his girlfriend, who fled the apartment basement, he said.

"There was another incident days before (the shooting). It's not trivial. It's a woman getting attacked," VanHo said." At the end of the day, (Ellis) acted."

What happened after the shooting?

Mitchell told jurors another woman heard the gunshots while sitting in her driveway. Leaving her vehicle, she found Ellis and asked him if he was OK.

"Thomas Ellis said something to the effect of, 'I finally got him,'" Mitchell said.

Leaving Ellis, the woman found Gray, called 911 and spoke to Akron police officers at the scene, telling them Ellis lived nearby. Once at his house, officers heard Ellis ask why they were knocking on his mother's door, she said.

Once Ellis was in custody, detectives interviewed him. Initially, he denied having knowledge of the shooting and claimed someone else was involved, Mitchell said. It wasn't until officers said they could identify the gun used to shoot Gray that Ellis acknowledged his involvement.

VanHo acknowledged Ellis was at the house after the shooting but said he panicked. That panic only worsened once he went to the police station for the interview.

"I can't imagine being a 21-year-old kid in that situation," VanHo told jurors. "He starts spewing stuff out of his mouth. None of it makes any sense."

Before ending his opening statement, VanHo asked jurors to consider the incident from Ellis' point of view.

"Put yourself in the shoes of a Black kid in Akron...," he said. "Put yourself in Thomas' shoes."

Bryce Buyakie covers courts and public safety for the Beacon Journal. He can be reached by email at bbuyakie@gannett.com or on X, formerly known as Twitter, @bryce_buyakie.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: 'It's not about murder': Akron man argues he shot, killed Dominic Gray in self-defense