Special agent: Records place accused gunman's phone near scene of deadly mass shooting

Authorities placed an accused gunman's phone near the scene of a deadly mass shooting at a Colerain Township residence in 2017 using cell and GPS data, according to a federal agent who testified Tuesday.

Records show a Gmail account investigators say belongs to James Echols was located near Capstan Drive on July 8, 2017, just minutes before the shooting occurred, FBI Special Agent Lance Kepple said.

Echols' account was also placed in that same area roughly 11 hours prior, Kepple testified. That account was linked to a single device, he added.

A Gmail account and device linked to Michael Sanon was placed in Lexington, Kentucky in the days leading up to the shooting, Kepple said, adding that's where it was last seen before reappearing in Columbus on July 9, 2017.

On Monday, Corey Boyle, a former Colerain police detective, testified the pair knew each other prior to the shooting and that Echols was supposed to meet Sanon at his father's residence in Lexington.

Echols' account was placed in Lexington hours before the shooting occurred, Kepple said.

According to Boyle, the two men were exchanging private messages via Facebook shortly before and after the shooting. Photos of Sanon were also found on Echols' Facebook page.

Dozens of search warrants for phone, email and social media records were issued in the course of the investigation, Boyle said, adding those records were useful in corroborating statements given to police.

Echols, 26, and Sanon, 24, are facing 22 counts in Hamilton County Common Pleas Court including aggravated murder. The Columbus residents are accused of shooting nine people, one fatally, during a fake gender-reveal party.

Also facing murder charges in this case are Roshawn Bishop, 31, of West Price Hill and Vandell Slade, 33, of Columbus.

Bishop testified last week that he paid Echols and Sanon $1,500 for their alleged role in the shooting. Prosecutors say it was an attempted murder-for-hire stemming from a $10,000 debt.

Slade is accused of connecting Echols and Sanon to Bishop, according to court documents. He's also accused of driving the two men to the scene.

Google records show an account connected to Slade searched for directions to Capstan Drive on the day of the shooting, according to Boyle. That same account searched for "Cincinnati homicides Saturday" the following day, Boyle said.

Kepple said a phone linked to Slade made a call from the area of Capstan Drive around 11:15 p.m. on the night of the incident.

Bishop said he received a call from Slade just before the shooting, who said the front door of the house was open and there were people inside. "I told him don't do it, come back," Bishop said.

Sometime after 11 p.m., two men armed with handguns entered the house through an unlocked door, according to police reports, and began spraying the living room with bullets.

Kepple said the account linked to Echols began to move out of the Cincinnati area at highway speeds along Interstate 71 toward Columbus in the early morning hours of July 9, 2017.

An investigator with the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation provided Kepple with phone records as well as basic information about the case, according to his testimony.

But the FBI analysis of cellular and GPS data has limitations, Kepple said. "I cannot tell you whose hand the phone was in at any point."

Several law enforcement agencies were involved in the shooting investigation including the Colerain Township Police Department, the Cincinnati Police Department, the BCI and the FBI.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Day 8: Records place accused gunman's phone near scene of shooting