Double killing spikes Warren homicide toll to 8 for year; city official worried

By Elise Franco

Police offered few details of a double homicide Sunday.

WARREN — A spike in the number of homicides in the city has at least one council member worried.

Detective Wayne Mackey said Donte Broadus and Mocha Jones, both of Warren, were found with fatal gunshot wounds to the upper torso just after 3 a.m. Sunday in the 1700 block of Colt Court on the city’s Southwest side.

Mackey said Michael McDonald, of Warren, has been named as the suspect in the shooting, and police are continuing their search for him. He said McDonald has been arrested and charged with felonies in the past.

Mackey said police have heard several versions of what happened leading up to the shooting.

“We have several theories on what happened,” he said. “Right now we’re trying to sort out which one is accurate.”

Bob Dean, city council member at large, said the latest shooting deaths are just two more reasons the city needs a full police force.

“The problem you have is that bad guys get the tone of the town ... and when you can have a guy come in and just shoot two people, that’s an attitude you’re giving to the criminals,” he said. “Last year this time, the attitude was different.”

Dean said crime was down last year because the number of officers on duty was higher. Additionally, he said criminals and residents viewed the department differently.

“Their tenacity toward policing really brought crime figures down because they brought a level of cooperation between police officers and people on the street to an all-time high,” he said.

“If you look at our figures in ’07 and ’08, we didn’t have 16 robberies in one month.”

About 20 members of the Warren Police Department have been laid off since the first of the year.

The shootings happened just five days after Craig A. Holliday, 39, was stabbed outside USA Gas Mart on North Park Avenue on July 28.

Melanie Ferrell, 37, of Washington Street, was arrested and entered an innocent plea to the murder charge on July 29.

The victims in Sunday morning’s shooting represented homicides seven and eight for Warren in 2009.

At this time last year, the city had three recorded homicides.

Dean said he couldn’t talk in detail about Sunday’s shooting, but said police had no problem identifying the shooter.

He said this was because of the relationship and respect officers have built with civilians.

“When you don’t have the level of police officers you need, you can’t give up,” he said.

“What you have to do is depend on the public to be your eyes and ears and hope they trust that you’ll be able to effectively work any problem they report to you.”

efranco@vindy.com