But by joint agreement of the prosecution and defense, the trial was continued until May 3 due coronavirus concerns.
“Both the state of Ohio and defense counsel have concerns about seating a jury with the current pandemic going on in the state of Ohio and the nation,” Assistant Prosecutor Brad Burress wrote in the motion. “Both sides feel in the interest of justice and in the attempt to seat a fair and impartial jury, the continuance would be appropriate.”
In October, Romel Velasquez, 18, of Cincinnati, was sentenced to 24 months in prison after pleading guilty to aggravated assault with a gun specification for his role in the shootout at Liberty Park on Yankee Road.
Velasquez shot Moody and was charged shortly after the shooting with murder, but that charge was dismissed when the investigation pointed to Moody as the person who allegedly killed Hill.
Velasquez confessed he had a gun and made a choice to go to this “zone of danger” with that gun after a social media announcement about a “big fight,”, according to prosecutors.
Butler County Sheriff’s detectives and Fairfield Twp. police say the incident began with a previous theft of Hill’s cell phone and cash in Fairfield Twp. on June 7, and two groups met to fight in the park. Gunfire was reported about 10 p.m.
Moody remains housed in the Butler County Jail in lieu of a $1 million bond.
In addition to Hill and Moody, Zyshaun Johnson, 19, of Cincinnati, was also shot, and he recovered.
Hill, a Fairfield High School graduate, planned to play football at Independence Community College in Kansas.
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