ELYRIA — Daniel Kovarbasich confessed to stabbing Duane Hurley moments after taking the stand this morning in his own defense during the fourth day of his murder trial.

Daniel, 16, is accused of killing Duane Hurley by beating him with a pickle jar and stabbing him 55 times with a kitchen knife on Jan. 22.

Daniel, who is being tried as an adult, said he was molested by Hurley, whom he met a few years before near a school while Hurley was walking his dog.

Hurley “progressed” from jokes about male genitalia to touching and then oral sex and sodomy, Daniel said.

Earlier today, North Ridgeville police Detective Randall Young testified that among the images found on Hurley’s computer were photos of Daniel, including a photo of the teen sleeping.

But none of the pictures of Daniel were pornographic, Young said.

Police found numerous images of gay pornography on Hurley’s computers, including many that appeared to feature underage teens engaged  in graphic sex acts.

Check back at Chroniclet.com for more on this story.

GRANGER TWP. — A 16-year-old Highland student on her way to school was killed and two other students were injured in an early morning crash on Wilbur Road.
All attended Highland Local Schools.
At approximately 7:15 a.m., Erin K. Ehrbar, 16, was pulling forward out of her driveway in the 1000 block of Wilbur and attempting to […]

LORAIN — Police are looking for a would-be holdup man who came away empty-handed from a late night pizza shop holdup.

A man wearing a hooded sweatshirt entered the East of Chicago pizza shop at 1980 Cooper Foster Park Road about 10:45 p.m. Sunday, told a female clerk “I hate to do this to you,” slid a knife from his sleeve and demanded all of the money in the register, reports said.

The clerk asked the man if he was robbing her, and he said yes, according to the report.

More photos below.

She then ran to the back of the pizza shop where she grabbed a male dishwasher, and they both ran out the rear entrance of the store to a nearby gas station, from which they called police.

While waiting for police to arrive, the female employee said she saw the would-be robber walk from the shop, get into a car and flee.

The owner of the store told police the man took no cash or anything else.

Despite not getting any cash, the man faces aggravated robbery charges because the man threatened the clerk with a knife, according to Lorain police Sgt. Mark Carpentiere.

Detective Steyven Curry said witnesses described the robber as a stocky white male between 5 feet 9 inches and 6 feet tall who weighed between 200 and 210 pounds. The man had reddish brown hair, hazel eyes and was between 24 and 30 years old.

The man was wearing dark pants, white tennis shoes and a white hooded sweatshirt with “1987” on it, Curry said.

He was driving a newer model reddish-orange two-door Chevy Cobalt.

Anyone with info is asked to contact Lorain police at 204-2100.

ANAHEIM, Calif. — Erick Aybar hit his first leadoff homer and Bobby Abreu added a two-run shot, leading Jered Weaver and the Los Angeles Angels to a 5-2 victory over the Cleveland Indians on Monday night.

Weaver (3-0) allowed a run and seven hits in six innings, striking out seven and walking one. It’s the first time the right-hander has won his first three decisions since 2006, when he joined Livan Hernandez and Hall of Famer Whitey Ford as the only pitchers to go 9-0 in their first 12 big league starts.

Cleveland’s David Huff (1-3) gave up five runs and 12 hits over 51/3 innings in his second start since beating Texas with a four-hitter on April 15. The former UCLA left-hander worked with runners in scoring position in each of the first five innings and allowed the leadoff man to reach base in five of the first six.

Angels designated hitter Hideki Matsui singled in the fifth for his 1,000th hit in the majors, lining a 2-2 pitch to right field. His first career hit was an RBI single against Roy Halladay in his first big league at-bat on March 31, 2003, with the New York Yankees at Toronto.

More photos below.

Last year’s World Series MVP had 1,390 hits for the Yomiuri Giants during his 10-year career in Japan, where he was a three-time MVP of the Central League and a three-time home run and RBI champion.

Kevin Jepsen took over for Weaver in the seventh and became the second Angels reliever on this homestand to walk the bases loaded — along with Scot Shields. But the Angels got out of the inning unscathed, as Kevin Jepsen struck out cleanup hitter Travis Hafner and retired Russell Branyan on a groundout.

Austin Kearns led off the Cleveland eighth against Brian Stokes with his first home run of the season and third hit of the game. But Fernando Rodney got the last two outs of the inning and Brian Fuentes pitched a hitless ninth for his third save.

The Angels grabbed a 3-0 lead in the first, as Huff threw 28 pitches and gave up hits to each of his first three batters. Aybar drove his second delivery of the game into the lower seats in the left-field corner for his 10th homer in 1,223 big league at-bats and first since Aug. 8, 2008, against Texas’ Eddie Guardado.

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Torii Hunter’s double sent Abreu to third, and Matsui drove him in with a sacrifice fly. Hunter scored on Juan Rivera’s two-out bloop single.

The Indians got one back in the second on a two-out single by Jhonny Peralta, who entered in a 4-for-33 rut that had lowered his average to .154.

Abreu made it 5-1 in the sixth, driving Huff’s 104th and final pitch about 10 rows back in the elevated seats in right-center on a 2-0 count for his fourth homer after striking out in his previous two at-bats.

Notes

The Angels’ bullpen added six walks to its season total. They are the only team in the majors whose relievers have allowed more walks than the starting pitchers (45-32).

When Weaver struck out Asdrubal Cabrera in a 12-pitch at-bat leading off the third, he reached the 700-inning mark in his career — a span in which he compiled a 53-27 record with a 3.69 ERA and 577 strikeouts. By contrast, Weaver’s older brother Jeff was 38-51 with a 4.38 ERA and 468 strikeouts in his first 700 innings.

Hafner, who has more home runs and RBIs than any DH in Cleveland history, was hitless in three at-bats against Weaver with two strikeouts — and is 1 for 18 against him lifetime.

Angels 1B Kendry Morales was selected AL player of the week on Monday for the second time in his career.