Joseph S. Rosario-contributed photo
Joseph S. Rosario, the man charged in the July 27, 2018, shooting death of Jason C. Drummond Jr. in Masury, pleaded not guilty at his arraignment Oct. 27 in Trumbull County Common Pleas Court.
Rosario, 25, of Masury, was indicted Oct. 22 with two counts of murder with firearms specifications, carrying a concealed weapon and improperly handling firearms in a motor vehicle. He was initially charged by Brookfield police on Aug. 10, 2018, but fled before an arrest warrant was obtained.
Officials traced him to New York, and he was arrested around Aug. 28 in Queens. Rosario initially fought extradition, but then waived it, and Brookfield police picked him up and brought him back to Ohio on Oct. 26.
Rosario had help lying low, said Trumbull County Chief Criminal Prosecutor Charles L. Morrow.
“The people he was staying with in New York disavowed any knowledge that he was there,” Morrow said.
Morrow asked that no bond be set, based on the charges, his fleeing and the fact that he had help. Judge Andrew D. Logan did not set a bond, but told defense attorney Aaron Schwartz that he can ask Judge Peter J. Kontos, the judge assigned to the case, to reconsider his decision.
Rosario will next appear in court Nov. 2 for a pretrial hearing.
Drummond, 24, of Masury, was driving a vehicle eastbound on Warren Sharon Road, west of Brookfield Avenue, when Rosario, who had stopped his vehicle in the road, fired several shots at Drummond, one of them hitting him in the head, police said.
Rosario also faces a charge of maintaining physical control of a vehicle while drunk, stemming from when he was found passed out in a minivan May 17, 2018, in the 900 block of South Irvine Avenue, Masury, police said.
