Youngstown man gets life prison sentence in fatal Warren fire that killed teen
Zackary Gurd, 25, of Youngstown, received a life prison sentence with first chance at parole after he serves 30 years in prison for his part in a fatal fire in Warren that killed a female teen early in 2023.
The sentencing hearing held in Trumbull County Common Pleas Judge Cynthia Rice’s courtroom on Aug. 27 closed the case of the Jan. 19, 2023 fatal fire that killed 16-year-old Chassidy Broadstone, at her home in the 400 block of Nevada Avenue NW in Warren.
Before sentencing, Gurd heard from six people who were friends or relatives of the deceased Two other teens who escaped the flames, Broadstone’s sisters, also gave statements. Also speaking were several friends of Gurd who testified about the defendant’s troubled life, with one calling him “misguided.”
The prosecution team of First Assistant Christopher Becker, left, and Senior Assistant Prosecutor Michael Burnett, right, stated that evidence showed that Gurd was the one who started the fire as he was carrying a gas can during the break-in at the home. Gurd’s two accomplices, Patricia Zarlingo and Brendan
Daviduk, have already pleaded guilty to the crimes and were sentenced to 35 years to life and 32 years to life repectively. Gurd was the first of the three to plead guilty and cooperated with prosecutors in the cases of the other two.
The cases against the three were indicted with death penalty specifications for each of the defendants, but the separate plea deals took the specifications off the table.
Becker said Zarlingo was the “driving force” behind the incident, while Gurd was the one who actually started the fatal fire.
Gurd pleaded guilty to two counts of aggravated murder, two counts of aggravated arson, aggravated burglary, two counts of attempted aggravated murder and tampering with evidence.
Becker said he is satisfied with securing life sentences in the three cases, but the prosecution was seeking a 40- to 60-year to life sentence for Gurd. Becker also credited Warren police detective Mike Altiere and other investigators for using crucial evidence, including cellphone records, camera footage, surveillance from inside the home and video from the gas station where the defendants filled the gas cans, to create a timeline of events that night. Becker, who at the hearing played video clips of the fire being started, said this would have made it “an easy case to present to a jury.”