Suspect is held
Suspect is held
YOUNGSTOWN -- A 41-year-old Columbus woman is being held in lieu of $500,000 bail after her municipal court arraignment on charges that she killed her boyfriend at his East Side home because he refused to marry her. Deborah Graham of Doe Wood Court is accused of killing Ulysses Watkins, 55, of South Truesdale Avenue. He was found in his driveway with gunshot wounds to his back at about 1 a.m. Tuesday. Judge Elizabeth A. Kobly appointed an attorney for Graham Tuesday and set bond on a charge of aggravated murder. Her preliminary hearing is April 5. Watkins' 26-year-old son, who also lives at the Truesdale address, told police he had heard his father arguing on the telephone with Graham about a half-hour before the shooting and she had threatened him: "Marry me by Easter or else," police reports show.
Dog control ordinance
LAKE MILTON -- Milton Township trustees adopted a new dog control ordinance that would give police additional authority to deal with dangerous or nuisance dogs.
Also discussed at Tuesday's trustees meeting was the 2-mill police levy on the May primary ballot. The additional tax would generate about $100,000, said Bonnie Spencer, township clerk.
Held in lieu of bail
YOUNGSTOWN -- A 23-year-old East Side man is being held in lieu of $500,000 bail after his municipal court arraignment on charges that he helped two other men in the murder of 29-year-old Stephen Shackleford last week. Armin D. Moore of Kendis Circle is one of four men accused of being involved in the murder. Shackleford, 29, was killed March 19 outside his McBride Street home. Investigators said the men shot him then came closer and shot him again. During Moore's Tuesday court hearing, Judge Elizabeth A. Kobly set the cash or surety bond on a charge of complicity to commit murder and appointed a lawyer to the case. Moore faces a March 29 preliminary hearing. Moore, who turned himself in Monday, is the second man arrested in the case. Eddie D. Bryant, 24, of Cohasset Drive was arrested after he surrendered last week and is being held in lieu of $1 million bail on a murder charge. Outstanding warrants remain for Lorice Moore, 24, and Calvin Moore, 30.
Mistrial declared
YOUNGSTOWN -- A mistrial was declared Tuesday morning in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court, where jury selection had begun in the trial of Marcus Smith, 25, of Halleck Street. He is charged with three counts of attempted murder in a 1995 shooting outside a house on Pennsylvania Avenue on the city's North Side.
Judge Jack Durkin declared the mistrial because of problems that arose during the jury selection process, which began Monday. The trial has been reset for May 30.
Fails to appear
YOUNGSTOWN -- A 35-year-old South Side woman who challenged the city's loitering for prostitution ordinance now faces arrest after she failed to appear in municipal court for her sentencing on a loitering charge. Diana M. Fisher of West Chalmers Avenue pleaded no contest to the charge in January. When Fisher did not show up, Judge Elizabeth A. Kobly ordered a capias for her arrest. The woman was accused of loitering for prostitution on the city's South Side on Aug. 26. City police reports show that an officer saw her and another woman waving down cars near Oakhill and Cleveland avenues. Fisher's attorney, James J. Connelly of Northeast Ohio Legal Services, had argued for a dismissal, saying that the city's loitering ordinance is unconstitutional because it is vague and overbroad. Judge Kobly denied the request.
Phone scam reported
YOUNGSTOWN -- A 57-year-old South Side woman reported to city police that she received two calls from a woman telling her she had "won" a credit card with a low interest rate and requesting personal information. The caller, who telephoned from New York City on Tuesday, asked for the woman's name, Social Security number, address, birth date, income, bank account number and personal identification number. The South Side woman hung up.