A Lorain man accused of gunning down two young men behind a Tower Boulevard strip of shops is now fighting for his freedom in a county courtroom.
The jury trial for Willie Demarr Gaddy Jr. opened Monday in Lorain County Court of Common Pleas, where he faces charges of aggravated murder, murder and felonious assault in connection with an April 11, 2025 shooting that prosecutors say unfolded in a parking lot off Tower Boulevard. Judge Donna Freeman is presiding over the case.
According to WOIO, the gunfire erupted around 5 p.m. behind a row of stores at 1139 Tower Blvd. Lorain police arrested Gaddy three days later, on April 14, 2025, and investigators presented the case to a grand jury, which returned an indictment.
Local coverage quickly zeroed in on the chaotic scene outside a Tower Boulevard hair salon. One Dead, Another Airlifted detailed the immediate aftermath, with one victim pronounced dead at the scene and another airlifted to MetroHealth in Cleveland with life‑threatening injuries.
Charges, timeline and court start
Reporting from The Chronicle‑Telegram shows that a grand jury indicted Gaddy on multiple counts, including aggravated murder and several separate murder counts that lay out different alleged courses of conduct. The indictment also carries multiple specifications, including firearms specifications and a forfeiture specification tied to the handgun authorities say was used, which prosecutors argue could tack on years to any potential sentence if jurors return guilty verdicts.
What the law says
Under Ohio law, a person can be found guilty of murder when a death occurs “as a proximate result” of committing or attempting to commit certain violent felonies. A straight murder conviction typically carries an indefinite prison term of 15 years to life, while aggravated murder is treated as the most severe homicide offense in the state.
Those definitions and penalty ranges are set out in the Ohio Revised Code at ORC §2903.02, with sentencing provisions detailed in ORC §2929.02.
What to watch in court
During the jury trial that began Monday, prosecutors are expected to lay out their version of what happened in that Tower Boulevard lot, calling witnesses and presenting physical evidence. The defense, in turn, can challenge what comes in front of the jury and raise pretrial and evidentiary objections as the case moves along.
Defense attorney Alex Bodiford previously declined to discuss specifics of the case and described the situation as “unfortunate,” according to The Chronicle‑Telegram. How long the trial runs, and which witnesses ultimately take the stand, will depend on what is scheduled and argued on the court’s docket.
Anyone with information about the April 2025 shooting is asked to contact the Lorain Police Criminal Investigations Bureau at (440) 204‑2105, according to local reports. WOIO notes that investigators have continued to chase leads in the year since the deadly encounter.
