Police ask for public’s help in homicide case

Authorities hadn’t received any tips related to the
shooting as of Tuesday.

YOUNGSTOWN — Police are hoping to get some help from the public as they investigate the city’s latest homicide.

Justin T. Fields, 21, of E. Warren Avenue, died early Monday after being shot in the head while riding in a car driven on Shehy Street by his cousin, Aundrey Fields, 22, of Steubenville.

Aundrey Fields told police that morning that he hadn’t seen anyone or any other vehicles near his car as he drove on Shehy around 2 a.m. He said he only heard shots and then noticed that Justin had slumped over in his seat.

The department hasn’t received any tips, not even anonymous leads, in the investigation, said Capt. Kenneth Centorame, chief of detectives, noting that Det. Sgt. Ronald Rodway, the lead investigator in the case, would welcome any information on the shooting.

Police had hoped to interview Aundrey Fields at length Monday but he was unavailable, Centorame said. Fields was expected to make an appointment to talk to detectives Tuesday, he said.

Finding evidence

Police aren’t exactly sure where the shooting occurred, and investigators wanted him to show them where he was when it happened, he said, pointing out that time is important in terms of preserving any evidence at the scene.

Police still didn’t know Tuesday if the shooting was a random occurrence or if Fields was an intended victim. There was nothing yet to indicate it might be retaliatory in nature, Centorame said.

Centorame said police did recover some evidence related to the shooting on their own, but he declined to identify what it is or where it was found.

Fields was the 18th homicide victim in the city this year, compared with 16 at this time in 2006.