Tuesday, May 24, 2005
Kevin Dotson and Ronaldo Miller were likely targets of the pre-prom shooting, police say.
By PATRICIA MEADE
VINDICATOR CRIME REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Feuding gunslingers have targeted East Side homes, the Wilson High School prom and possibly have a homicide under their belt, police say.
"Two groups are taking on each other, and their neighbors and friends are getting involved," Lt. Rod Foley, police spokesman, said Monday. "The feud is spilling into the community."
Foley said Police Chief Robert E. Bush Jr. has added extra patrols and deployed specialized units to certain East Side neighborhoods to quell the violence. He said the chief, although hampered by a shortage of resources, also is working with the law department to shut down habitual crack houses through nuisance abatements.
"It's all being looked at to see if [the feud] is tied to the homicide. We're hoping to solve that, too," Foley said. "We have a lot of uncooperative victims who want to take care of things themselves."
On May 16, Lakeita Nolan, 22, was shot in the back as she lay on a couch by the front door of 1150 Oak Lane around 1:15 a.m. More than 20 rounds from an assault rifle were fired at the East Side house, one killing Nolan.
Violence on prom night
"The East Side troubles also spilled over to the prom," Foley said of the shooting last Friday. "There's a link between blood relatives, distant cousins. Look what happened at Wilson; it ruined the whole day."
At the Wilson High School prom walk-in, around 6:15 p.m. last Friday, shots were fired from a passing car on Gibson Street at a small group in the 200-plus crowd. Those suspects -- police believe three -- remain at large.
A 17-year-old Berwick Avenue girl who attends The Rayen School was hit in the foot and Kevin L. Dotson, 18, of North Belle Vista Avenue was hit in the left shoulder. The girl, her sister, Dotson and Ronaldo Miller, 21, of East Dewey Avenue were walking on Gibson Street when three shots were fired at them, reports show.
Foley said Dotson and Miller were the likely targets and the girl "caught a bullet flying by."
When Dotson fell, a loaded .44-caliber revolver fell out of his pants and two bags of crack cocaine were later found in his pockets, police said. He was charged with carrying a concealed weapon, illegal conveyance of a weapon onto school property and possession of crack.
He told police that he was armed because of threats he'd been getting from some South Side men.
Arraignments
Dotson escaped from St. Elizabeth Health Center on Saturday afternoon. If found overnight by members of the Mahoning Valley Violent Crimes Task Force and U.S. Marshals Service Fugitive Task Force, he would be arraigned today in municipal court.
Foley said detectives want to talk to Dotson in an effort to identify those who shot him.
Miller, who picked up Dotson's gun, ran from the scene, police said. He tossed it to the ground before being caught in the 500 block of Wilbur Avenue, reports show.
Miller was arraigned Monday in municipal court on charges of carrying a concealed weapon, illegal conveyance of a weapon onto school property, obstructing official business and resisting arrest. Judge Elizabeth A. Kobly set bond at $150,000 and a preliminary hearing for May 31.
Foley noted that three men charged with shooting into houses on the East Side were also in court Monday for arraignment. A 16-year-old Berwick Avenue girl was hit in the leg during the gunfire.
Also last week, two houses were shot up in the 30 block of South Bruce Street and ineffective Molotov cocktails (gasoline-filled bottles) were used in an arson attempt. Police found spent rounds from an assault rifle (17) and spent shotgun shells (five). They also collected three spent 9mm rounds.