Jan. 7—LIMA — “I thought he was going to kill me,” an alleged victim said during testimony Tuesday on day one of a jury trial in the Allen County Common Pleas Court for a Lima man who is facing a charge of felonious assault.
According to a narrative from Lima Police Detective Steven Stechschulte provided in court documents, on May 6 around 12:45 a.m., a man, who was identified in the trial as Roger Saylor, “showed up at Mercy Health-St. Rita’s Medical Center with heavy trauma to his face and he was heavily bleeding from lacerations above his right eye and on the front, left side of the head,” Stechschulte wrote.
Saylor said he was assaulted by Randy Stephenson, 57, in a church parking lot at 1103 W. Spring St. The parking lot is behind 220 S. Cole St. where Stephenson lived with his estranged wife, Danielle Laman-Stephenson.
Saylor and Laman-Stephenson were involved in a romantic relationship, testimony revealed. Laman-Stephenson and Saylor went to the residence so she could get items from the house and money from Stephenson and they pulled into the church parking lot so there were no issues between the two men, Saylor said.
Stephenson allegedly opened the door to the car while Laman-Stephenson was in the house and started assaulting Saylor by strangling and punching him and hitting him with a gun. The man received nine stitches in his head and jurors saw pictures of Saylor at the hospital with marks on his head and neck.
When Stechschulte talked to Stephenson, he said he thought he was being robbed and allegedly admitted to striking the victim at least twice in the head with the gun.
In opening statements, Assistant Prosecutor Josh Carp said Stephenson was angry because of the lack of attention he was receiving from Laman-Stephenson and that he “took matters into his own hands.”
“This was a very justifiable action to the situation. Not ideal, but justifiable,” Stephenson’s attorney, Kenneth Rexford, said in opening statements while arguing Stephenson was acting in self-defense. He said Laman-Stephenson and Saylor were using drugs — which Saylor confirmed in his testimony — and that “she was a mess” and had “gone off the deep end.”
Saylor said he never punched or lunged at Stephenson and had no weapons. Rexford questioned Saylor about if he was there to rob Stephenson but Saylor denied the allegation because he said Laman-Stephenson could get money from Stephenson whenever she wanted.
Reach Charlotte Caldwell at 567-242-0451.
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