Local

Warren man pleads guilty to murder charges

By Trumbull County Prosecutor’s Office

Updated January 1, 2024 7:41 AM

Zackary W. Gurd, 24, of Laird Avenue NE, Warren, pleaded guilty Friday before Judge Cynthia Rice of Trumbull County Common Pleas Court to two counts aggravated murder, two counts attempted aggravated murder, one count first-degree aggravated arson, one count second-degree aggravated arson, aggravated burglary and tampering with evidence.

Gurd was one of three people charged following the Warren police investigation into the fatal Jan. 19, 2023, fire that killed 16-year-old Chassidy Broadstone at a home on Nevada Avenue NW.

Assistant Prosecutor Christopher Becker said Gurd agreed to a plea deal in which prosecutors offered to take the death penalty specifications off the table.

Judge Rice ordered a background investigation to be conducted before Gurd is sentenced. Becker said both the state and defense attorneys agreed to a life sentence with the first chance of parole coming after Gurd serves 40 to 60 years in prison.

However, Judge Rice has the final say on Gurd’s sentence, which is a maximum life term without the chance for parole.

Gurd and co-defendants Brendan Daviduk and Patricia Zarlingo were charged with driving to the Warren home during the early morning hours, and while Zarlingo remained in the vehicle, Daviduk and Gurd broke into the residence, poured gasoline in the garage area and set a fire which caused the death of Broadstone and injured two other teens who were sleeping upstairs and had escaped via the roof.

Prosecutors stated the two men had stolen a Play Station game system and a flat-screen television from the home.

During the police investigation, Gurd had fled the state and was eventually arrested by U.S. Marshals after he got off a Greyhound bus in Virginia.

Daviduk, 29, and Zarlingo, 28, both of Manchester Avenue, Youngstown still face the death-penalty level charges and have trials scheduled for the spring of 2024 before Common Pleas Judge Sean O’Brien. Daviduk’s trial is set for May 14, while Zarlingo’s is scheduled for April 1.