Dying youth ID’d his shooter

By Patricia Meade

The suspect has been out on bond in the Auto Zone robbery-murder case.

YOUNGSTOWN — The mother of an 18-year-old man shot during a visit home for Easter said her son identified his killer — “Reggie.”

City Prosecutor Jay Macejko said a murder warrant was issued Monday afternoon for Reginald K. Everson, 21, of West Chalmers Avenue.

Everson made news in February 2007 when he was captured at his sister’s house in California and brought back to Ohio on charges of murder and aggravated robbery. Edward Agee, 52, of Star Street, a clerk at Auto Zone on McCartney Road, was killed during a robbery attempt by three masked men May 2, 2006. Also charged in that crime are Jamaad Jackson, 18, and Melvin T. Dixon Jr., 24, both of Youngstown.

At arraignment in municipal court in April 2007, Everson’s bond was set at $3 million. Last July, his bond was reduced to $15,000 in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court by Judge Maureen A. Cronin, and he posted the bond. Court records show the bond was for aggravated robbery only; the murder charge had been dismissed. Cronin retired last summer.

Detectives have said Jackson and Dixon, not Everson, had guns during the Auto Zone robbery and that Dixon actually shot the store clerk. Jackson and Dixon remain in the Mahoning County jail and are set for separate trials in June; Everson is scheduled for a pretrial hearing April 8. Prosecutors will ask that Everson, who has agreed to testify against Jackson and Dixon, have his $15,000 bond revoked.

Carol Roland, meanwhile, said her son Terrell was outside their East Avondale Avenue home talking to a friend in the driveway Sunday afternoon when she heard two gunshots. She was by her son’s side when police arrived, as was the friend, Mickele “Mike” Glenn, 18, of Southern Boulevard.

Terrell L. Roland, shot at least twice in the stomach, died at 9:30 p.m. Sunday at St. Elizabeth Health Center.

“He said ‘Reggie did this,’” Roland, 53, said as she thumbed through photos at her kitchen table Monday afternoon. “My son wasn’t fighting with Reggie — Mike was. Mike had on the bulletproof vest. I can’t see a reason to kill Terrell. He wasn’t beefing with anybody.”

Carol Roland described her son as a good kid and very mannerable.

“His smile would light up the world,” she said wiping away a tear. “He had trouble in the schools here, so I sent him to his aunt in Columbus, and he would have graduated this year on the honor roll.”

Terrell’s father, James Ronald Sr., 55, said he was downstairs, getting ready to cook Sunday dinner, when he heard the shots. “When I got upstairs, he was on the ground.”

The dead man’s parents said he used to play basketball at Wilson High School until his grades started to fall. He also played Little League football for the Sons of Thunder.

The Roland house was filled Monday with friends and relatives offering condolences. Those who gathered went through photo albums and loose photos, picking just the right one of Terrell to use in The Vindicator.

Outside the house, a woman bidding a reporter and news photographer goodbye said: “You have a blessed day.”

The Terrell Roland murder is being investigated by Detective Sgts. Ramon Cox and Brad Blackburn. The death is the city’s 10th homicide of the year.

Glenn told detectives he was in the driveway with Terrell around 3:50 p.m. Sunday when a black Buick Regal drove east on Avondale and the driver, whom he knows as “Reg” shot twice, reports show.

Glenn, aside from the bulletproof vest, was toting a loaded .380 caliber handgun. While in the rear seat of a cruiser, he pushed the gun and a bag of bullets under the front seat and later told police what he’d done.

Glenn was charged with carrying a concealed weapon. He was arraigned Monday in municipal court, and bond was set at $15,000.

Vindicator files show that Glenn reached a plea agreement in a criminal gang case and was placed on probation by a juvenile court magistrate in January 2007. His gang affiliation was Dale Boys.

meade@vindy.com