A one-eyed man and a dead co-defendant: Canton man on trial in fatal Akron shooting

A Canton woman put a message on Facebook last November, saying she needed someone with a gun to go with her to an Akron man’s house to help her with a disagreement over a car.

Suzanne Thomas said she was willing to pay $100 for this service.

Summit County prosecutors say Darrell Buchanan agreed to assist Thomas, but rather than simply scaring Joseph Hall, he shot and killed him.

“All the state’s going to ask you to do is to hold Darrell Buchanan accountable for that which he chose to do,” Assistant Prosecutor Dan Sallerson said Monday evening during his opening statement in Buchanan’s murder trial in Summit County Common Pleas Court. “He invaded his home and then shot and killed Joseph Hall.”

Defense attorneys, however, say Buchanan, who was partially identified because he has one eye, wasn’t the shooter. They said there are lots of questions that remain unanswered, such as the relationship between Hall and Thomas.

“We think this case might be more about what we don’t know,” said Jacob Will, one of Buchanan's attorneys.

Woman charged in case is found dead in scrapyard

Buchanan, 38, of Canton, was arrested in the Nov. 30, 2022, shooting death of Joseph Hall, 38, in the 1300 block of Brandon Avenue in Akron’s Goodyear Heights neighborhood.

Hall was found on the living room floor with a gunshot wound to the chest. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Suzanne Thomas, 33, of Canton, was also charged in the case but was never taken into custody. The case against her was dismissed after she was found dead in a Canton Township scrapyard in April. Prosecutors say her death wasn’t tied to Hall’s slaying.

Buchanan is charged with two counts of murder and one count each of felonious assault and having a weapon while under disability, a charge that means a person was prohibited from having a firearm because of a prior conviction.

The murder and felonious assault charges include gun specifications that carry with them additional prison time. The murder charges involve different explanations of the crime.

Buchanan’s trial in Judge Alison McCarty’s courtroom is expected to last at least through Wednesday.

Dispute over car preceded shooting, prosecutors say

Sallerson said Thomas and Hall were in a dispute over a car that she claimed was hers. He said Thomas went on Facebook and posted a message about needing someone with a gun to accompany her to Hall’s house.

Sallerson said Buchanan, using an alias on Facebook, agreed to help Thomas.

Sallerson said Thomas and Buchanan went to Hall’s home and walked right in.

“Where’s Joe?” Thomas asked Hall’s roommate.

Sallerson said Thomas was accompanied by a tall, skinny Black man who had one damaged eye. He said this man fired one shot at Hall, then immediately left.

Sallerson said Thomas tried to flee as Hall’s roommate attempted to stop her. She dropped her phone on the porch, then left with the man with the damaged eye.

Sallerson said Buchanan admitted that he talked to Thomas using an alias on Facebook and met with her on the morning of the shooting. He said the conversation between Thomas and Buchanan was on Thomas’ phone but not on Buchanan’s.

Defense says many questions remain unanswered

Will said the defense agrees that Hall was shot and killed that day and that Thomas and Hall had some type of disagreement, though he said the details of that are “murky.”

“That's where our agreement ends,” said Will, who represents Buchanan with attorney Noah Munyer.

Will said many details are unclear, such as the relationships Thomas had with Hall, his roommate and a neighbor who saw Thomas fleeing after the shooting.

Will urged jurors to pay attention to the evidence that's presented — and not presented — during the trial.

“We believe once you have, you will agree the state has not met its burden of proof,” Will said. “We’re going to ask that you merely hold the state to its burden and find Mr. Buchanan not guilty on all counts.”

Stephanie Warsmith can be reached at swarsmith@thebeaconjournal.com, 330-996-3705 and on Twitter: @swarsmithabj.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Darrell Buchanan is on trial in the fatal shooting of an Akron man