YOUNGSTOWN Man found shot dead in apartment

YOUNGSTOWN -- A friend checking up on the welfare of Levon J. Hill found him shot to death inside his South Avenue apartment.
The friend called police at 2:35 p.m. Sunday after finding Hill, 49, in a pool of blood on his bed with an ironing board on top of him.
When he arrived, the friend noticed that the apartment building's electronic gate at 3318 South had been smashed open and Hill's 2001 Dodge Stratus was missing. The door to Hill's residence was wide open.
Hill's friend walked through the South Side apartment yelling "Lee" and got no response. He entered the bedroom, called "Lee" twice more and shook the bed, then went across the street to call police.
The friend had gone to check on Hill to find out why he hadn't shown up for work at The Mixx, a bar at 21 Hylda Ave., police said.
Officers who entered the apartment found it had been ransacked, with clothing and other items on the floor in the living room. Hill appeared to have a bullet wound in his neck.
Reports show that Hill's apartment building is owned and operated by Ursuline Ministries. A nun from the Ursuline motherhouse on Shields Road in Boardman was called to the scene to lock up the place.
Hill's death is the city's 33rd homicide of the year. The city recorded 31 homicides in 2000, the last of which took place Dec. 18.