CLEVELAND — Four days into the trial, the prosecution argued DNA evidence links Terrell Silver to the weapon that was used to kill four people in a Cleveland home in September 2019.
Officers recovered several 9mm bullets and casings — but no weapon — from that scene five years ago. Fast forward to July 2020, when Cleveland officers responded to a separate shooting at a party where they recovered a 9mm firearm. Authorities later linked the gun to the bullets and casings found in the quadruple homicide.
The court did not allow our 3News photojournalist to record video or audio of four of the witnesses — including three city and county workers — who testified in court Thursday, saying they have the right to object to being recorded.
One of those witnesses was Marissa Esterline, a forensic scientist and DNA analyst for Cuyahoga County. Esterline testified that her team tested DNA evidence on the firearm in March 2023 and the results linked the firearm to multiple people, but the likelihood ratio was much greater for Terrell Silver.
Silver's defense team pushed back on the DNA testing, asking about how many times the gun was tested and whether the DNA analysts tested the weapon just to get the results the prosecution wanted.
Another witness that 3News was not allowed to record was a former cellmate of Silver. In December 2019 — just a few months after the September homicides — Silver was arrested for an unrelated crime. His cellmate at the time took the stand Thursday, claiming Silver confided in him that he killed four people.
The cellmate said Silver told him he was involved in a drug deal with two men, whom Silver claimed tried to shoot him. He testified that Silver recounted looking for the men after the deal, searching several houses before he found and then shot and killed them along with two women. He also said Silver claimed he melted down the murder weapon.
The defense team argued there are discrepancies in his testimony, and that Silver's former cellmate is only testifying in this case to get out of his remaining probation.
The trial is expected to pick back up Friday morning.