Defense attorney: Canton man fatally shot Melvin Stevenson in self-defense

CANTON – In a police-recorded video played for jurors Monday, Errol G. Frank III reluctantly admitted to a detective that he shot and killed Frank's wife's ex-husband.

But Frank, 29, of Canton, said he fired his gun at Melvin H. Stevenson to protect Frank's wife and 2-year-old daughter. He claimed that Stevenson had made threats against his wife during the four months prior to the shooting, once by telling her that he knew her address.

"I'm not just a murderer. I'm not just a killer. I'm a protector," he said during about an hour of questioning by the police detective at the Canton police station more than six hours after the fatal shooting on March 22 on Peel Place NE at O'Jays Parkway NE. "I'm not one to do senseless stuff. I'm rarely in trouble."

Frank is being tried in Stark County Common Pleas Court on felony charges of murder, felonious assault and tampering with evidence with gun specifications. If convicted, he faces a sentence of at least 18 years to life.

Prosecutors spent much of Monday presenting evidence seeking to discredit Frank's claim of self-defense.

Errol Frank: 'I was scared for my wife and daughter.'

In the police video, Frank initially said he was walking to meet a friend. And then later conceded he had been driving his vehicle looking for Stevenson. His wife had called Frank to say she had seen Stevenson walking along a street as she drove by. Frank claimed he had never seen Stevenson, couldn't recognize him and needed his wife to describe him. Frank said his wife didn't tell him to find Stevenson.

Frank in the video said he screamed Stevenson's name, Stevenson turned, asked him about some buildings and then recognized him. He said Stevenson lunged at him and Frank, not knowing if Stevenson was armed, responded by shooting Stevenson.

"I was scared for my life," Frank said.

But later Frank told the detective, "I was scared for my wife and daughter. I wasn't scared for me."

Later in the interview, Frank said, "I was scared. Had to protect my family. I'm scared now because I am a Black man now."

Stevenson, 36, of Canton was taken to a hospital where he died about two days later.

Stark County Assistant Prosecutor Margaret A. Scott in her opening statement said Frank had sought to find Stevenson. He waited for Stevenson to walk by him and then chased him and shot him at least twice, at least once in the head "in broad daylight" around 3 p.m. March 22 at O'Jays Parkway NE and Peel Place NE.

“(Frank) finds where the victim is. He stalks him. He waits for him. And then he shoots him in the head as he’s running away,” Scott said. “You will see this is not self-defense.”

In the video, Frank eventually admitted that after he shot Stevenson, he threw the gun into a gutter by Frank's detached garage.

Wife cleared: Canton man indicted in shooting death of Melvin Stevenson, wife will not face charges

Attorney: Errol Frank was acting in self-defense

Frank’s attorney Aaron Kovalchik said that Melvin Stevenson was upset that his ex-wife was now with Frank. And Frank will testify that he sought to find Stevenson to resolve the tensions. But Stevenson responded violently and Frank shot Stevenson in self-defense, he said.

“Errol did not have the intent that day to hurt Melvin Stevenson,” said Kovalchik, who indicated to jurors that Frank would take the stand in his defense. When Frank sought to speak with Stevenson, “this is when Melvin became violent. This is where Melvin put Frank in a situation where Frank feared for his life.”

But the prosecutor said Stevenson was “just walking along minding his own business not bothering anybody.”

Pastor witnessed chase and shooting

Pastor Paul George testified that he was driving by O'Jays Parkway NE and Ninth Street NE at the time in a church van with his wife and four teens on their way to pick up another teen for a church event. They heard a gunshot. George stopped the vehicle.

He said he saw a man with dreadlocks at least six-feet tall chasing another man. Both men were sprinting. George said the man being chased, who was not wearing shoes, fell down face first and was on his hands and knees. The man on the ground turned toward his pursuer with his hands in the air. The man with dreadlocks was holding something in his hands. George said he then heard two gunshots and the man on the ground collapsed as the other man fled.

George said he parked the van, called 911 and went to check the status of the man on the ground. George thought he was dead. Another man had gotten to the scene before George and rolled the man onto his back. George testified that the man had a bullet wound to his forehead.

While the pastor was not asked to identify Frank in the courtroom, Frank has dreadlocks.

Related: Canton man, wife charged in shooting that seriously injured 36-year-old man

Canton police interrogate Errol Frank

Jurors also heard Tuesday from three Canton police officers who responded to the shooting. A patrol officer testified he rendered first aid to Stevenson, saw an exit bullet wound on Stevenson’s abdomen and saw two shell casings at the scene.

Detectives said by checking Stevenson's Facebook profile, surveillance video and license plate camera data, they began piecing together that Stevenson's ex-wife's current husband's vehicle, a Mazda MPV minivan, was in the vicinity of the shooting when it took place.

The footage gave them a basis to obtain search warrants to search Frank's home a couple of miles away on Morris Avenue NE, for Frank and his wife to be picked up in a traffic stop, and for the couple to be brought to the police station downtown to be questioned.

Canton police detective Vincent Romanin, who questioned Frank, testified that he sought to establish rapport with Frank by expressing sympathy to Frank's claim that Stevenson was a threat to Frank's family to try to get Frank to reveal as much as possible.

On the video, Romanin convinced Frank to waive his right against self-incrimination, agree to give a DNA swab, reveal where he had disposed of the gun to avoid police tearing through his home to find it and to give consent for the police to search the contents of Frank's iPhone 12.

On the video, Frank said after he shot Stevenson he ran away and didn't even stop to see if Stevenson had survived.

"I wish he wouldn't have lunged at me. I wish we could have talked as men," Frank told the detective. Frank said he didn't intend to kill him but was responding to a burst of adrenaline.

Romanin asked, "Do you think you made a mistake, tonight?"

"I know I did," said Frank. "I am not proud of anything that happened today. But I love my family. I love my wife. I love my mother. ... I may have made the biggest mistake of my life."

Testimony is set to resume Wednesday morning in Stark County Common Pleas Judge Frank Forchione's courtroom. Closing arguments are expected to take place Thursday.

Reach Robert at robert.wang@cantonrep.com. Twitter: @rwangREP

This article originally appeared on The Repository: Attorney: Errol Frank shot Melvin Stevenson in self-defense