LISBON  A Columbiana County judge has rejected a defense motion to prevent prosecutors from using a photo lineup as evidence in the upcoming trial of a man accused of a fatal shooting in Wellsville.

Thirty-four-year-old Jeno Wall of Steubenville faces charges of aggravated murder, murder, intimidation of a witness, and two firearm specifications in connection with the Sept. 9, 2024, fatal shooting of Robert E. Herron, 30. The trial is scheduled for Sept. 23.

Responding to a report of shots fired on 10th Street in Wellsville on Sept. 9, 2024, officers found Herron wounded behind a garage. Herron was taken to a hospital, where he died the next day.

Wall’s attorneys argued that a witness’s identification of Wall was the result of suggestive police methods. In court documents, they contended that the Wellsville Police Department’s use of a single photo and a subsequent photo lineup violated Wall's due process rights.

In a judgment entry filed Sept. 10, Columbiana County Common Pleasdge Megan L. Bickerton of the Columbiana County Court of Common Pleas denied the motion.

The judge noted that the witness knew Wall from prior interactions and saw Wall shoot Herron in the back. The witness was also familiar with Wall’s associates and had spoken with him on several occasions.

The court's decision states that while the initial use of a single photograph was suggestive, the identification had "sufficient indicia of reliability" based on the witness's prior knowledge of Wall. The judge also ruled that the photo lineup, though not conducted by a "blind administrator" as specified in state law, wasn’t impermissibly suggestive.

Bickerton cited a 2017 appeals court case with similar facts in her decision.