Woman charged in death says she felt threatened

YOUNGSTOWN — The woman jailed on a murder charge calmly told police she felt threatened by Sherman Moody “so I shot him.”

Latoya G. Ingram, 30, of 310 Byron St., was video arraigned Monday in municipal court. Judge Robert P. Milich set bond at $750,000. Ingram will be back in court June 21 for a preliminary hearing.

Dana C. Guarnieri, assistant city prosecutor, told the judge that Ingram has no prior record and neither did the victim.

Police found Moody, 54, of Logan Gate Road, Liberty, dead in a pool of blood inside Ingram’s home around 2 a.m. Monday. When officers asked what happened, Ingram, found sitting nearby with the gun on a table, calmly told them “I shot him. I felt threatened so I shot him.”

She told police that the gun used was hers. Officers collected the gun and six spent shells found in the living room.

Capt. Kenneth Centorame, chief of detectives, said Ingram didn’t offer many details about her relationship with Moody. He said detectives hadn’t talked to Moody’s family members Monday afternoon.

What happened

Centorame said some type of disagreement or argument prompted the shooting. The autopsy would reveal how many times Moody was hit.

He said there were no signs of a struggle and no other gun, drugs or alcohol were found in Ingram’s home.

Moody is the city’s 14th homicide of the year. There were 12 murders at this time last year.

The 911 call came in at 1:44 a.m. but the caller, later identified as Ingram’s sister, left an address that doesn’t exist on Byron. Officers were then sent to the duplex at 308-310 Byron at 2:04 a.m.

Police were met on the porch by 31-year-old Sheila Ingram, who lives next door to her sister in the brick duplex. She told them someone had been shot.

Sheila Ingram was in her sister’s apartment Monday afternoon, but said she was too tired to talk. “She has children — I’m trying to get items for the children,” Sheila Ingram said.

A little girl’s pink and blue toy oven sat on the porch. Centorame said Latoya Ingram mentioned that she has three children; he expects they will stay with family members.