As reported by Cleveland 19 News, a verdict has been delayed in the bench trial of a 23-year-old man charged in the death of Bedford resident Alexander Gurley.
Joseph Littlejohn was expected to learn the outcome of his trial before Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas Judge Lauren Moore, but the hearing was continued. The case is now scheduled to return to court on July 6.
Prosecutors allege that Gurley, 22, was killed on Jan. 4, 2024, after traveling to a home in Cleveland Heights to sell clothing. Authorities contend that Littlejohn robbed Gurley before fatally shooting him several times and then fled in an SUV that investigators say had been stolen at gunpoint from another victim earlier that day.
Littlejohn also faces a separate murder charge in the death of Warrensville Heights resident Michelle Arnold, 23. Her trial is scheduled to begin later this year.
According to investigators, Arnold was reported missing in October 2023. After a fire at Littlejohn’s East Cleveland home in February 2024, police discovered Arnold’s blood in the basement. Her remains were later recovered in June 2024 from the backyard of an East Cleveland home after authorities received an anonymous tip.
Investigators later searched a vehicle previously owned by Littlejohn’s mother and alleged it had been used to transport Arnold’s body. Prosecutors have stated that both Arnold’s and Littlejohn’s DNA were recovered from the vehicle’s trunk. Littlejohn was indicted in Arnold’s death on Feb. 14, 2025.
