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Dallas Acoff Found Guilty of Second-Degree Murder in Ohio County

ACOFF

WHEELING — An Ohio County jury convicted Dallas Michael Acoff of second-degree murder Thursday, wrapping up a four-day trial in Ohio County Circuit Judge David Sims’ courtroom.

Assistant Prosecutor Shawn Turak said after the trial that she is relieved the jury agreed on a guilty verdict.

“This was an unjustified, intentional killing,” she said regarding an exchange of gunfire last year at the American Legion Post 89 in East Wheeling that occurred between Acoff, Lemroy Coleman and an acquaintance of Coleman’s. “It means that this man will not be on the streets for a long time, and that is a good thing, because he is a dangerous man. Anyone who takes a gun to a bar, scares a victim out within five seconds, deserves to be behind bars.”

The 10-woman, two-man jury also convicted Acoff, 27, of Bridgeport, of four other felony charges. As a result, he faces 10-40 years in prison for killing Coleman, 33, of Wheeling; up to five years for malicious assault for shooting Norman Banks in the leg, and up to five years each for three counts of felony wanton endangerment, Turak said.

Another felony charge in Acoff’s May indictment, being a felon in possession of a deadly weapon, will be tried at a later time. It carries a penalty of up to five years in prison, she said.

Sims ordered a pre-sentence investigation completed before he schedules Acoff’s sentencing hearing.

Defense attorney Martin Sheehan said after the trial that he’s disappointed in the overall outcome, but he’s “gratified to some extent that the first-degree (murder charge) is gone.”

“It’s always a tragedy when a life is lost, and it’s another tragedy when someone is in jail,” he said, noting the matter is not over yet for Acoff. “This is a long process, and there are a lot more steps to go before this case finally comes to a conclusion,” he said.

It took the jury about four hours to produce its verdict, during which it asked to review portions of the 12 pieces of surveillance video evidence shown during the trial: two from a utility pole that the city of Wheeling has trained on the bar, located at 15th and Jacob streets; and 10 videos with different views from the bar itself — both inside and outside.

The state said the videos and evidence reveal three gunmen that night, and they have identified bullets or fragments from Norman Banks’ and Coleman’s guns.

They say that, based on witness and video surveillance, Acoff fired from the front entrance of the bar, and that ballistics evidence found at the bar’s stoop — the only entry and exit for the facility — and at two other places belong to Acoff.

But they can’t prove that, because Acoff’s gun has not been found.

That the gun has not been produced is an admission of guilt, Turak told the jury at several points during the four-day trial. In addition, Turak has deemed it an admission of guilt that Acoff fled the day after the shootings to his native Cleveland, where he stayed for several months before being extradited back to the Ohio Valley.

During closing arguments, the defense criticized the state for bringing the matter to trial before doing a thorough investigation. Defense counsel Martin Sheehan said some of Turak’s conclusions were “assumption based on speculation.” That’s because, while there are videos, there is not sound on those videos, so they can be interpreted several ways, he said.

“The shooting at the Legion is on videotape and that’s awesome,” he said. “There are some gaps because of lack of sound.”

By piecing together evidence, witness testimony and video, Turak concluded that Acoff planned the murder of Coleman by coordinating his friends being at the bar, having one of their cars parked right out in front of the bar, by communicating with his friends inside the bar to find out if Coleman was there, and more. She said that, after the shooting, Acoff went to Lane 11 to “hand off the gun” to someone waiting there, then waved them away, before making his getaway with friends.

Acoff, who took the stand Wednesday, said he went to Lane 11 only to escape gunfire, and that he did not know, nor interact with, strangers he saw pass in the alley. He said he feared for his life after he came into the bar and Coleman threatened to kill him, and was trying to escape.

But Turak said Acoff was the aggressor.

“Coleman is terrified of this guy,” she said, noting that Coleman, who was on the dance floor, dancing, when Acoff walked in, looked at the surveillance monitor and “saw his murderer” walk in. “Coleman is out the door in four seconds,” she said.

But Sheehan said Acoff did not fire the first time he opened the door. Rather, it was Banks who fired first, so Acoff and another man ducked back inside the bar, and Coleman ran toward Lane E.

Sheehan said the shot that hit Coleman was fired about 200 feet away from the bar, at Alley E where Coleman ran, and that it was separate from the exchange of gunfire that occurred outside the bar. He cites ballistics evidence, including an empty shell casing by Coleman’s wounded body, as well as surveillance video that shows two people in that area. And Sheehan urged the jury to note the actions of Charles Wallace, a witness who testified that he actually ran to the bar to escape the sound of gunshots.

Sheehan has also said police should have investigated Banks’ statement that he had been in a robbery, and Sheehan believes that crime, as well as the gunshot that hit and ultimately killed Coleman, occurred in Lane E, not at the bar.

“There were other people in that alley,” he said during his closing argument to the jury. “Why did Wallace run up the street (toward the bar)?” he asked, also raising the question of why Coleman’s gun discharged in the alley.

After the trial, Turak praised detectives, investigators and police.

“Detective Gregg Harris, and Det. Robert Safreed, city of Wheeling Police Department, Detective Division, did an unbelievable investigation. I think the police officers that responded on the night of this shooting were amazing and as I argued in the closing, their integrity is untouchable. I think the jury did a really good job.”

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