Slain man not a thug, grieving mom says

Some relatives feel police were disrespectful.

YOUNGSTOWN — Robert L. Rogers’ mother described her son as a peaceful homebody and can’t grasp why someone would kill him.

“I last saw him around 8; he never left home that time of night, but he didn’t say where he was going,” Yvette Rogers said Thursday, sitting at the dining room table in her Arch Street home. “My child was not a gang banger or a thug.”

Robert L. Rogers, 20, was found shot to death around 8:45 p.m. Wednesday on North Bruce Street on the East Side by officers sent to check out reports of gunfire. Police collected a cell phone and 18 9-mm casings, several unfired, near the driveway entrance to the Lincoln School playground.

One man who lives on North Bruce heard at least 10 shots. He hit the floor and didn’t see anything. A woman saw the shadow of a man running past her North Bruce house and toward the playground area.

Police dogs and the Street Crimes Unit checked for suspects but failed to locate any. Anyone with information is asked to call Detective Sgt. John Kelty at (330) 742-8249.

The victim’s mother, surrounded by family, called the murder senseless. She said her son had no criminal record because of the way she raised him.

Yvette Rogers and others at her home expressed anger at what they perceived as disrespect and a lack of compassion from police after the shooting. She said an officer who picked up the cell phone at the crime scene told the caller it was found on a body.

Capt. Kenneth Centorame, chief of detectives, said detectives talked to a brother of Robert Rogers who came to the crime scene but the young man didn’t provide much information. The captain said cell phone records are being checked.

Yvette Rogers voiced anger at not being notified by police about what happened but being told by a young man who came to her house. She said when her husband was murdered 16 years ago the police chaplain was sent to tell her.

“Then, at the hospital, they [police] said, ‘Go home, it’s at the morgue,’” she said, wiping tears with both hands. “There’s crime in the city but we have a bigger issue with the police.”

Robert Rogers’ sister, Bianca Drake, was very upset that her brother’s body had been referred to as “it.” She asked: “How would you feel if he was your child?”

Centorame said it’s unclear why family members were directed to the hospital, since the victim was dead on the street and taken to the morgue. He said police discourage family from going to crime scenes.

In response to criticism, Centorame said he believes police officers try to show compassion in all cases or they wouldn’t have a career in law enforcement. He said what the family may have perceived as disrespect was officers’ need to be firm.

“It’s an unfortunate situation, the family lost a son, brother, nephew,” Centorame said. “In emotional situations people want to strike out and sometimes direct it toward police. I’ll sit down and talk to the family if they have issues about what happened.”

Centorame said detectives are working on a motive and timeline, trying to find the last person who saw the victim. He said no one came forward to say they dropped Rogers off on North Bruce and investigators believe he was on foot.

“He could have encountered somebody while walking,” Centorame said. “We have a lot of unanswered questions.”

Margie Ready, the victim’s aunt and a retired deputy sheriff, said her nephew always had a smile on his face, spent a lot of time with his girlfriend and liked to be at home.

“He was a good kid,” Ready said. “We’re sad. There’s no explanation for what happened. Justice should be served for whoever did this.”