Chief: 3 charged with murder in Trotwood death in custody; 4th man awaits sentencing

Crews responding to a March 11, 2023, house fire in the 5300 block of Gardendale Avenue discovered a body in a bedroom, later identified by the Montgomery County Coroner’s Office as 26-year-old Jaykwon D. Hardy, who lived in the house.

“The investigation revealed that he died from gunshot wounds and not from the fire,” Wilson said.

Hardy’s death started as a scheme to steal items from his house, and Trotwood police said earlier this week they always had four suspects.

Two months after the fire Trotwood police arrested Savon Anthony Davis, 30, of Clayton during a traffic stop. He pleaded guilty in April in Montgomery County Common Pleas Court to reduced charges of involuntary manslaughter and aggravated burglary via a bill of information. He is expected to be sentenced to between 18 and 20 years in prison and remains held on $1 million bail in the Montgomery County Jail.

Following the first arrest, the investigation continued for 15 more months, Wilson said, before eventually leading to the Aug. 30 indictments of Icesse Princess Messiah, 29, of Dayton; Bryhana Renee Murphy, 26, of Harrison Twp.; and James Norman, 23, of Dayton.

They were indicted by a Montgomery County grand jury for multiple counts of murder, aggravated burglary, felonious assault and aggravated arson. Messiah and Norman also are charged with grand theft (motor vehicle), court records show.

Norman is incarcerated at the Lake Erie Correctional Institution on a burglary conviction in Montgomery County. He is expected to be released later this month, according to Ohio Department of Rehabilitation & Correction online records.

Murphy turned herself in Tuesday evening and is in the Montgomery County Jail. She is scheduled to be arraigned Thursday.

Messiah was arrested Wednesday morning by the U.S. Marshals Service’s Southern Ohio Fugitive Strike Team (SOFAST) and Springfield Police Division in the 100 block of West John Street in Springfield, the chief said. She, too, is in the Montgomery County Jail awaiting arraignment on Thursday.

“We appreciate the help of our law enforcement partners and the community members that have helped bring justice to the family of Jaykwon Hardy,” Wilson said.