YOUNGSTOWN Official identifies charred body found in burning car

The victim's car had been left on a desolate East Side road.
By PATRICIA MEADE
VINDICATOR CRIME REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Demetrius L. Chatman caught all the breaks on drug and gun convictions but the luck ran out, and his body was found in the trunk of a burning car.
Dental records were used to confirm Chatman's identity, police said. The positive identity was released Friday afternoon by Mahoning County Coroner David M. Kennedy.
Firefighters discovered Chatman's charred remains early Tuesday when they popped the trunk of his 1994 Oldsmobile 88 after they put out the fire that was deliberately set near the passenger seat. The 23-year-old West Indianola Avenue man had been shot in the head.
A handgun was found near the Oldsmobile, parked on Vaughn Avenue, a desolate road on the East Side. One witness heard "pop, pop, pop." The sounds were muffled, as if they'd come from inside the car.
Detectives are in the process of establishing a motive for the crime, said Lt. Robin Lees, police spokesman. The investigation involves finding out whom the victim saw last and a review of his criminal history, Lees said.
Criminal history
On April 22, Chatman pleaded no contest in municipal court to attempted trafficking in marijuana, reduced from felony trafficking. Judge Elizabeth A. Kobly sentenced him to 180 days in jail, suspended 137 and gave him credit for 13 days already served.
The judge also placed him on one year's probation.
Chatman agreed to forfeit $1,463 that police seized during his arrest on April 9. Also seized was a large quantity of marijuana, some in packaged-for-sale bags.
Had Chatman been convicted of the original felony drug charge, he faced up to 12 months in prison.
Probation violation
The April arrest triggered a probation violation hearing in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court, where Chatman was on probation to Judge James C. Evans.
Here's what lead up to the probation:
In March 2002, a felony charge of carrying a concealed weapon was reduced to misdemeanor improper handling of a firearm in a motor vehicle. Chatman pleaded guilty to the amended charge, which carried up to six months in jail as the maximum penalty.
Had Chatman been convicted of the original felony gun charge, he faced up to 12 months in prison.
In May 2002, after completion of a background check, Judge James C. Evans sentenced Chatman to six months in jail but suspended it all and placed him on one year's probation.
In effect, Chatman was still on probation to Judge Evans when he was sentenced five months ago by Judge Kobly on the drug charge.
In May, Judge Evans sentenced Chatman to 60 days in jail for violating probation, but gave him credit for 51 days already served.
The time served was based on the jail sentence Judge Kobly handed down.
Chatman's probation to Judge Evans terminated in June. His probation to Judge Kobly ran until April 2004.
meade@vindy.com