Police arrest man in shooting death

By KATIE SEMINARA

Cases involving young individuals are generally tied together, a detective said.

YOUNGSTOWN — Kevin L. West, 21, of Youngstown was arrested Wednesday at 4822 Market St. on warrants of aggravated murder and weapons under disability.

West was wanted in the murder of Delbert L. Jones, 22, of 814 W. Indianola Ave.

Jones was found with several gunshot wounds to his back. He was face down in a field between his home and 808 Indianola on Saturday.

In another case, suspects are still being sought in the shooting death of Sirtan Alli, 19, of 2109 McGuffey Road, Youngstown.

Alli was found with a gunshot wound to the back of his head Wednesday near his home on the East Side. Officers found a 9mm semiautomatic handgun on the sidewalk between the victim’s legs. The gun was registered to Alli and was taken for evidence.

When Alli was found he was able to move but could not respond to the officers at the scene. Alli was taken to St. Elizabeth Health Center about 2:15 p.m. and died Wednesday night.

Capt. Kenneth Centorame, chief of detectives, said there are no witnesses to the crime, but two aggravated murder warrants have been issued. Robert W. Floyd Jr. and D’Von M. Walls are the two suspects in the Alli murder, the warrants state.

Cases involving young individuals such as Jones and Alli are generally tied together, said Centorame, whether authorities can prove it or not. Most homicides, such as the ones in the past week, are consequences of drug-related activity or drug-related arguments.

Alli’s death was the city’s 21st homicide of the year.

A body that was found Thursday morning may make the homicide toll No. 22, but Centorame said this case is being called a suspicious death for the time being.

A woman, who has not been identified, was found naked and wrapped in a black-and-red sleeping bag about 6:40 a.m. at 836 Michigan Ave. on Thursday.

An employee of Allied Waste discovered the body in a residential BFI waste container while emptying trash into his truck along his daily route.

There were no visible signs of violence on the body that officers could record and no way to determine how long the body was in the waste bin, said Centorame.

The next step for detectives is to watch for a missing persons report and wait for the coroner to run fingerprints and DNA tests.

Centorame said it is possible that the woman died of an drug overdose.