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City police: Slaying victims were targeted
Witnesses heard gunfire but didn’t see the East Side shooting.
YOUNGSTOWN — Police still haven’t established a motive in the slayings of two men, but Capt. Kenneth Centorame, chief of city police detectives, said the slayings were not random and both men were targeted by their assailants.
“There was an intended victim and an intended result” in both cases, he said.
The men died in separate shootings about two hours apart Wednesday night and Thursday morning on the East and South sides.
No suspects are in custody, and police have no descriptions of suspects, Centorame added.
At 11:35 p.m. Wednesday, police found Sterling Floyd, 36, lying on a hallway floor of a home in the 1700 block of Cromwell Street on the city’s East Side, where police believe he lived.
Floyd was not breathing or moving, with a large amount of blood covering his upper body, and a pistol on the hallway floor near his body, police said.
When police arrived at the scene, a man shouted to them that his friend was in the hallway and had been shot.
While police were securing the crime scene, about 10 members of Floyd’s family arrived and were escorted away by police who asked them to leave because officers needed to preserve evidence.
Witnesses told police they heard gunfire, but they didn’t see the shooting.
Floyd’s cousin, Berice Frederick, 35, of East Judson Avenue, was shot in the left cheek but survived and was taken by private car to St. Elizabeth Health Center. His injury did not appear to be life-threatening, Centorame added.
At 1:32 a.m. Thursday, police found the body of Terrance Crum, 38, of East Lucius Avenue, lying face down on the front porch at 550 E. Boston Ave. on the city’s South Side with several gunshot wounds to his body and head. Police found several rifle shell casings by the steps to the house.
Ambulance personnel told police Crum showed no signs of life.
During the shooting, the houses at 550, 554 and 558 E. Boston were struck by bullets, police said.
Crum was standing in the parking lot of a nearby South Avenue bar when his assailant began shooting at him, and Crum ran to 550 E. Boston seeking cover and concealment on the porch, the police captain said.
“The person that was after him shot him right on the porch,” Centorame said. “That shows us that that was not random. That was intended, and somebody wanted this individual taken out, and that’s what happened.”
Police responding to a report of gunfire spoke to a witness who told them there was a man lying on the front porch at 550 E. Boston and said she was awakened by someone on the front porch yelling, “Help me! Help me!”
While speaking to a 911 call taker, the witness reported seeing several flashes and hearing several gunshots.
Another witness told police he saw a small gold or silver car arrive at the scene, heard gunshots and saw people running. He said he then heard someone run back to the car and someone yell, “Ouch!”
The homicides were Nos. 12 and 13 this year. The city had recorded 17 homicides at this time in 2008.
milliken@vindy.com