GREENVILLE — The trial of a Greenville teen accused of shooting a teen girl in the neck began Wednesday in Darke County Common Pleas Court.
Ryan Monahan, 19, is charged with four, second-degree felony counts of felonious assault and one, third-degree felony count of tampering with evidence as a result of the June 9, 2017, incident. Monahan allegedly fired a .22-caliber rifle at a pickup truck with four teens driving away from his family’s residence at the 600 block of Fort Recovery Road in Greenville. One of the teens, Monahan’s former girlfriend, was struck in the neck.
Defense attorney Dave Rohrer and Assistant Prosecutor James Bennett declined to make opening statements at the bench trial, overseen by Common Pleas Court Judge Jonathan P. Hein. The case had been slated to go to a jury trial until the day before, when the defense requested a bench trial.
The prosecution called five Greenville Police Department witnesses — Officers Shannon McDaniel, Benjamin Boyer, Alan Smith, Ryan Borowske, and Jesse Osswald — all of whom testified to their roles at the scene of the crime and their followup investigation activities.
Sgt. McDaniel said he was the first officer to arrive at the scene, where he saw the Chevy S-10 pickup truck driven by one of the teens pulled off the side of the road. He said the teen victim’s gunshot wound, while bloody, “did not appear to be that serious.” She was transported to Wayne HealthCare for treatment and released within a few hours.
McDaniel also testified the defendant was cooperative and actually led him to the place where he admitted the shooting took place. One shell casing was found that same night, while another was found the following day.
Officer Boyer testified he was called to the nearby softball diamonds June 15 as a groundskeeper had reported finding a BB-handgun in the ditch across from the diamonds, near where the truck had pulled over.
The shooting victim, a 16-year old from Greenville, was next called to testify. She told the court she and the three friends had been in contact with the defendant through text messages and phone calls prior to the incident. Threats were exchanged between the parties.
As the four pulled into Monahan’s driveway that evening, the two teen boys exited the truck and proceeded to argue with the defendant. The victim said she thought she heard the sound of a BB-gun being fired, and the two boys got into the vehicle and the truck took off, heading north. Moments later the rear window of the truck was shattered by a gunshot, which struck the girl in the neck.
The three teens accompanying the shooting victim — two males and one female — were on hand to testify for the prosecution. In cross examination, Rohrer sought to discredit their testimony, as all four of the teens admitted to smoking marijuana before the incident, and the two male teens admitted to drinking alcohol and ingesting Xanax as well. All four denied there had been a BB-gun or weapons of any type in the truck.
The prosecution is expected to call an additional five witnesses to testify when the trial resumes Thursday.
