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Waynesburg man accused of pointing shotgun at girlfriend, son, acquitted on most charges

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WAYNESBURG – A Waynesburg man accused of pointing a loaded shotgun at his 22-year-old girlfriend and their 2-year-old son last year was found not guilty Wednesday of the most serious charges he faced.

A Greene County jury returned a split verdict for Marquell Lawrenc Bailey, 25, of 146 W. Lincoln St., finding him not guilty of terroristic threats, endangering the welfare of a child and simple assault. He was found guilty of recklessly endangering another person relating to an incident that happened in the borough Nov. 30.

During the two-day trial, Bailey testified that he had been living with his then girlfriend, Corrin Raymond, their son, and Raymond’s father, Glenn Raymond, on West Lincoln Street in Waynesburg. He said the day he was arrested, he and Corrin Raymond had been fighting, which he suggested was a common occurrence.

Bailey told the jury that he wanted to break up with Raymond that day and move back to Cleveland, where he’s from. Bailey testified that Raymond told him to take her father’s shotgun to pawn for the money he would need to move, which is why he was seen by multiple witnesses with the gun in his hand.

Neighbors across the street testified that they saw Bailey peek out the door of his home while holding a gun, just moments before Raymond came running across the street to their house, upset and holding her son. The neighbors then took her inside and called police.

Raymond testified that Bailey had pointed the loaded gun at her and her son, threatened their lives, and the life of her unborn baby, as she was pregnant at the time. In her written testimony to Waynesburg police that day, she said that Bailey had threatened to “go into the street to start shooting until the police arrived and when they arrived he wasn’t going down easy,” according to police documents.

Bailey denied the allegations and testified that Raymond made the story up because she was upset that he was breaking up with her.

“She said that I was never going to see my son again and she left out the side door,” he testified.

During the trial, Bailey’s public defender, Harry Cancelmi, claimed that Raymond’s testimony was not credible because her father had given her an ultimatum–testify against Bailey, or find another place to live. Cancelmi also said there were too many inconsistencies between her testimony at Bailey’s preliminary hearing in December and her testimony during the trial.

Raymond admitted in court Tuesday that she “didn’t tell the whole truth,” during the preliminary hearing, because she was still in love with Bailey and didn’t want him to get in trouble.

“I’ve been in love with Marquell since I was 18,” she said Tuesday. “Being the father of my two children … I felt like it was my duty to protect him in some way. This is someone I would never want to see hurt and more importantly never want to see hurt his own children or myself.”

She said that as his trial approached she decided to further testify against him.

“After I had my daughter, my head started to clear a bit and I realized that it wasn’t safe for my children,” she said.

In his closing arguments, Cancelmi suggested to the jury that “it takes two to tango.” He said that the only victim in this incident was the 2-year-old son, subjected to his parents’ fighting.

Bailey will be sentenced by Judge Lou Dayich on the reckless endangerment conviction at a later date.

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