Trial over 2 drug-related killings will reveal Erie's 'grisly underworld,' prosecutor says

One victim, 24-year-old Erie resident Calvin Isaiah, was fatally shot in the chest as he was in bed.

Another, 44-year-old Erie resident Phillip Clark, who was disabled and used a wheelchair, was gunned down as he sat on the toilet, naked, and pleaded for his life.

Another victim was tied up and burned during a home-invasion robbery in which the assailants tried to set his residence on fire.

And yet another victim was shot in the leg and robbed while he was standing in the street.

All four of the incidents occurred in the summer of 2018 in Erie. And all four, according to the Erie County District Attorney's Office, were, in whole or in part, the work of three defendants on trial for murder, robbery and other charges in Erie County Common Pleas Court. Two of the defendants were younger than 18 at the time.

The three preyed on other drug dealers and others to rob them of cash and drugs such as methamphetamine, the lead prosecutor in the case, Chief Deputy District Attorney Jeremy Lightner, said in his opening statement on Thursday. He said the three targeted victims they believed would be less inclined to report to police that they had been held up.

Testimony starts: Crime scenes, deaths outlined in trial over drug-related killings in Erie in 2018

The three planned each heist and had no qualms about turning them violent, Lightner said. He said the crew was out to rob drug dealers in "licks" or "stings" and had no remorse.

After the killing of the victim in the wheelchair, Lightner said, the defendants laughed as they drove away in the getaway car, according to a cooperating witness. Lightner said the evidence would show that Clark pleaded with his assailants to spare his life.

"All these witnesses, combined, tell a pretty grisly tale," Lightner said.

He said the evidence and testimony will show how the three defendants rampaged in Erie's "grisly underworld."

Two of three defendants were 16 and 17 when crimes occurred

The three defendants on trial are Christopher J. Bridges and Destin A. Dortch, both 22, and Raeshawn D. McCallum, 24. Their jury trial, before Judge David Ridge, is expected to continue through next week.

Bridges was 16 at the time of the crimes and Dortch was 17. They were charged as adults due to the violent nature of the offenses. Erie police charged all three defendants in 2021 and 2022 following a lengthy investigation that included the use of cooperating witnesses, according to statements in court on Thursday.

Bridges faces charges including murder in connection with the fatal shooting of Phillip Clark on Sept. 4, 2018, at a residence in the 300 block of West 29th Street, near Cochran Street; and burglary and other charges related to an Aug. 28, 2018, break-in at the apartment of Calvin Isaiah at East 26th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue a day before he was fatally shot.

Bridges also faces, burglary, arson and other charges in a home-invasion robbery on Sept. 3, 2018, at at a residence in the 1100 block of West 20th Street, between Raspberry and Cranberry Streets, in which the occupants were tied up and an attempt was made to set the house on fire.

Dortch faces charges charges including murder in the killings of Isaiah and Clark; and burglary and other offenses in the break-in at Isaiah's apartment.

McCallum faces murder and other charges in Clark's killing; burglary and related charges in the break-in at Isaiah's residence the day before he was killed; and robbery and other charges in the Sept. 3, 2018, home invasion robbery.

McCallum also faces attempted homicide and other charges in a robbery and shooting on June 18, 2018. The victim in that case said McCallum and a person he did not know came up to him in the area of East 23rd and French streets, shot him in the leg and robbed him of a necklace and a watch, according to the prosecution.

Defense focuses on two cooperating witnesses

Also charged in the crime spree are Chinello A. Blaski, 43, and Nicholas J. Grayson, 32. They are the cooperating witnesses.

Both waived their criminal cases to court and testified against their co-defendants during the preliminary hearings for Bridges, Dortch and McCallum in April 2022.

Blaski faces murder and other charges related to the fatal shooting of Clark and charges in the West 20th Street home-invasion robbery. He was also scheduled for trial this week, but his trial was continued and a new date has not been set.

Grayson is scheduled for trial in November, according to court records. He faces charges related to the group's reported casing of Clark's residence before Clark was fatally shot, and charges related to the West 20th Street home-invasion robbery.

Grayson and Blaski will testify against their three co-defendants, Lightner, the prosecutor, said in his opening statement. He said police also have fingerprints and DNA to link the three to the crimes.

In light of all the other evidence, "You are going to see that their testimony makes sense," Lightner told the jury of Grayson and Blaski.

For the defense, Blaski and Grayson represent the weak spots in the prosecution's case, lawyers for each of the three said in their opening statements.

Bruce Sandmeyer, Dortch's lawyer, said Blaski can be expected to get a plea deal, and he said the case rests on the credibility of the cooperating witnesses, particularly Blaski.

"Keep an open mind," Sandmeyer told the jury.

Jason Nard, McCallum's lawyer, called Blaski "the mastermind" of the robberies and murders. He said McCallum called Blaski his "uncle" and that McCallum, Bridges and Dortch looked up to Blaski, who Nard said manipulated them.

Blaski, Nard told the jury, is "a diabolical man."

Keith Clelland, the lawyer for Bridges, characterized Blaski as a street-smart criminal who arranged the crimes and then turned into a cooperating witness. He called Blaski a "pied piper."

"He led these boys down the primrose path," Clelland said.

Echoing the other lawyers, Clelland told the jury that Blaski and Grayson could not be trusted.

"This case comes down to two people who are called polluted sources," Clelland said.

A long line of crimes, and a trail of evidence

The testimony of Blaski and Grayson is expected to mirror what they said at the preliminary hearing, in April 2022.

Blaski testified that members of the group would hang out in his apartment in 2018, smoking "weed" and talking about doing "stings," or robberies. He said they talked about robbing people who they knew were getting money by selling drugs, and they rode around and pointed out houses of people suspected of selling drugs and getting money. Isaiah was the target of one of those drives, Blaski said.

He said on the day before Isaiah was killed, some members of the group broke into Isaiah's apartment and stole items including a rifle and clothing. He said he was then told that "D-Dot," which was a nickname for Dortch, went back to Isaiah's apartment the next day, robbed Isaiah and shot him when Isaiah pulled a gun on Dortch.

In the killing of Clark, Blaski testified that he and others drove to Clark's West 29th Street residence and cased it the day before the shooting. The next day, he returned to the residence with Dortch, McCallum and Bridges but stayed outside because he knew Clark, Blaski testified. He said the others went in, and he learned afterward that McCallum shot Clark. Blaski also said the three laughed about the killing, according to the prosecution.

In the West 20th Street home-invasion robbery, Blaski and Grayson testified at the hearing that they, Bridges and McCallum went to the residence after someone told them it would be an easy place to rob. Two people inside the house were tied up and an attempt was made to set the house on fire as the group stole marijuana and some coins, according to the testimony and information from police.

Evidence that helped police crack the cases, according to testimony from detectives at the preliminary hearing, was a recovered gun that had been hidden in two plastic containers that Blaski and Grayson said were buried in a wooded area near the Tops supermarket on East 38th Street. The gun, which Grayson said he turned over to the police, matched shell casings recovered from the Clark homicide, according to police.

On Thursday, in his opening statement for the prosecution, Lightner urged the jury to consider all the evidence, and not just the testimony of Grayson and Blaski, which he said was credible nonetheless. Lightner also asked the jury to focus on what he characterized as the depravity of the crimes that he said developed in Erie's underworld.

"After murdering a naked, handicapped person," Lightner said, referring to the murder of Phillip Clark, "they were laughing."

Contact Tim Hahn at thahn@timesnews.com. Follow him on X @ETNhahn.

Contact Ed Palattella at epalattella@timesnews.com. Follow him on X @ETNpalattella.

This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Trial opens for 3 charged in 2018 homicides, other crimes in Erie