Murder trial begins in case that led to resignation of Mahoning County assistant prosecutor

Lavontae Knight

Jury selection got underway Monday in a Youngstown murder case that has been before the courts in Mahoning County for more than three years and led to the resignation of an assistant county prosecutor.

Lavontae Knight, 26, is being tried on 11 charges including murder, robbery, and kidnapping for the shooting death of Trevice Harris in Youngstown on December 30, 2018.

Earlier this year, Judge John Durkin denied a motion from defense attorney David Betras to dismiss the case, arguing that prosecutors waited too long to disclose DNA evidence that former assistant Mahoning County Prosecutor Dawn Cantalamessa possessed for two years.

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Cantalamessa resigned from the prosecutor’s office after Judge John Durkin removed her from the Knight Case.

Knight is charged with a second murder.

George Gutierrez and Knight are accused of fatally shooting 26-year-old Joshua Donatelli in October 2018.

Gutierrez has pleaded guilty and is still awaiting sentencing.  A trial date has not yet been set for Knight in that case.

Knight has been an inmate of the Mahoning County jail since his arrest in January 2019.