Fight preceded shooting that left man dead

The victim was shot four times in the head and chest.

By WILLIAM K. ALCORN

VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER

CAMPBELL — A verbal fight escalated to the shooting that caused the death early Thursday of Marvin L. Hodges, 29, in the Michael J. Kirwan Apartments on Jackson Street.

Police were called to the scene at about 3 a.m. and found Hodges lying on a grassy area in the 100 block of Jackson between two rows of apartments.

Hodges was taken by ambulance to St. Elizabeth Health Center, where he was pronounced dead. His death was ruled a homicide by the Mahoning County coroner’s office. A ruling on the exact cause of death is pending an autopsy.

A coroner’s investigator said Hodges was shot four times in the head and chest area with a medium-caliber weapon. The investigator said his office had addresses for Hodges in Youngstown, Girard and Campbell.

Campbell Police Detective Sgt. Gus Nicolaou, who is heading the investigation into Hodges’ death, said the shooting was the result of a verbal altercation, but that drugs were not involved. The shooting occurred outside, Nicolaou said.

Nicolaou said no arrests had been made as of late Thursday afternoon.

Hodges is the second homicide victim in the city this year.

On Jan. 12, Shawn L. Woodall, 28, of West Chalmers Avenue, Youngstown, was gunned down at about 12:40 a.m. in the area of the 100 block of Lettie Avenue, near Freedom Avenue. Police found Woodall’s body lying face down in the street with his head on the curb.

Residents reported hearing multiple shots, but coroner’s investigator Frank DeMain Jr. said Woodall was shot just once in the chest. His death remains unsolved.

The last homicide in Campbell before the Woodall death was Jan. 5, 2005, when Marcus Smith, 27, of Dublin, Ohio, and Youngstown’s South Side, was shot around 1:50 a.m. near the intersection of Jean and Jackson streets. Smith died two hours later at St. Elizabeth Health Center.

alcorn@vindy.com