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Jury acquits Crucible man of attempted murder charge in vape shop stabbing

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After a two-day trial, a Greene County jury acquitted a Crucible man Wednesday of attempted murder for a November stabbing at a Franklin Township vape shop.

Marcus Michael Booze, 19, of 67 Second St., stabbed Franklin “David” Russell II, 27, of Spraggs, with a knife just after 9 p.m. Nov. 4, at the Dubtown Vapes store, 125 Wade St. A fight had broken out between Russell and Booze’s friend Louis Hunyady, 20, of Rices Landing.

At 5 p.m. Wednesday, the jury acquitted Booze of attempted murder, but came to a “deadlock” on the second charged of aggravated assault. Greene County Judge Lou Dayich ordered Booze to return to plea court next week to see if a resolution could be made with the second charge.

Dayich had scheduled a bond hearing for 2 p.m. Wednesday, after Booze’s attorney Noah Geary asked for his client to be released.

“We’re grateful the jury listened to the facts,” Geary said in an interview following the verdict. “Marcus is a good kid, in a good family. We’re eager to put this behind us.”

Russell testified Tuesday he had been “hanging out” at the shop with friends, when Booze, Kody Farrar and Hunyady followed Hunyady’s 17-year-old girlfriend, Marissa Romanakis, into the store that night. Romanakis, Hunyady and Russell had been involved in a feud on Facebook, and when the couple walked into the shop, “words were said” between Hunyady and Russell, according to the testimony of five witnesses called by Assistant District Attorney Patrick Fitch.

The two then began shoving and fighting each other. Hunyady and Romanakis testified Russell used a piece of wood to strike Hunyady in the face, but Russell and his friends testified Russell only used his fists.

Will Smith, Russell’s friend and the owner of the vape shop, testified Russell didn’t need to use more than his fists in that fight, even with three people striking him.

“David’s a big guy,” Smith said. “One shove and all three of them were like dominos back into the door.”

Several witnesses, both friends of Russell and friends of Booze, testified Romanakis and Booze physically tried to get Russell to stop punching Hunyady. Romanakis and Hunyady testified Hunyady was screaming for help.

All of the witnesses testified the fight happened quickly, only lasting a minute or two, before Russell called out that he’d been stabbed.

“I felt pressure in my back,” Russell testified. “I said we need to call the cops and an ambulance – I’ve just been stabbed.”

Russell said he turned and saw Booze standing there with the knife in his hands.

“When I lifted my sweater, I could feel the warmth and the blood go down my back,” he said. “It started to get hard to breathe-it felt like I was drowning. I was pretty scared.”

Russell’s friend drove him to WHS-Greene hospital, where doctors discovered his lung had collapsed. He received an emergency chest tube and was flown by medical helicopter to Ruby Memorial Hospital in Morgantown, W.Va. The WHS-Greene emergency care doctor, Stephen Heirendt, who treated Russell, testified Tuesday, calling the wound a “critical injury.”

“A wound such as that, untreated, will kill you,” he said. “If he had not come in, the likelihood of dying is very high. Within the hour or two, something very bad or even death could occur.”

Farrar, who drove the group to the vape shop that night, said they ran from the shop when Booze stabbed Russell. He said one of Russell’s friends chased them in the parking lot with a piece of wood, warning them to leave.

Farrar testified once Booze was back in the car Booze stated, “I just popped that [expletive]. I got him.”

Geary argued his client didn’t mean that statement as a brag, and that his client was scared, nervous and “kids talk like that.”

Fitch argued they were “words of bravado.”

When questioning Booze Wednesday, Fitch inferred that Booze wasn’t forthcoming during his initial interview with state police. Booze said from the stand he was “scared” and “nervous” during that interview.

“I wanted everybody to go home safe at the end of the night,” Booze testified. “I was making sure all my friends were OK.”

Booze, who had been in custody since November on a $150,000 bond, also claimed Fitch and state police were “trying to make me look like a bad person, but I’m not. I’ve never been in trouble a day in my life.”

In his closing argument, Geary insisted Booze was acting in defense of his friend when he stabbed Russell, and that he believed Hunyady was suffering “serious bodily harm.”

“Does Louis have to lose an eye before Marcus can intervene to help his friend?” Geary asked the jury.

Booze testified Wednesday he had been afraid of Russell and he felt badly about Russell’s injury. Geary said Booze tried to get Russell off of Louis before he stabbed him. He also noted if Booze had wanted to kill Russell, he could have stabbed him more than once.

“There’s no criminal intent,” Geary said. “The government has failed to prove … that Marcus had the specific intent to kill Mr. Russell.”

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