Suspect was in prison 10 years

By Ed Runyan

WARREN — The man accused of killing 20-year-old Derek Thrash early Saturday outside the Big Apple Convenient Mart had been out of prison only since July 22.

James E. Dotson Jr., 27, of Idylwild Street Northeast, served 10 years in prison for a 1999 assault when he was 16.

He had been convicted in Trumbull County Common Pleas Court in November 1999 for shooting a man in the eye in Comstock Park on Comstock Avenue Northeast.

Dotson was tried as an adult and later sentenced to 10 years in prison on two counts of aggravated robbery and one count of felonious assault, said Sgt. Jeff Cole of the Warren Police Department.

On Tuesday, an innocent plea was entered for Dotson to one charge of murder when he was arraigned by videotape from the Trumbull County Jail.

Municipal Judge Terry Ivanchak set bond at $1 million and said a preliminary hearing will be set for him within the next 10 days. Dotson said his attorney will be Heidi Hanni.

Police arrested Dotson about 8 p.m. Monday at his house.

People who were in the area of the Big Apple on Youngstown Road at the time of the 2:40 a.m. shooting said there were roughly 100 people in the parking lots of the Big Apple and adjacent Pit Stop Food Mart.

However, police said they initially could not find anyone who witnessed the shooting and asked the public for help in solving the crime.

By Monday night, when Dotson was arrested, they had received that help, Cole said.

“Public cooperation and evidence recovered at the scene led to the arrest,” Cole said, declining to elaborate.

“We appreciate the public’s help in matters like this. I’m sure the family appreciates it, too,” he added.

Thrash’s death was the eighth homicide of the year, two more than recorded in all of 2008. The Warren Police Department has said six homicides had been about the average yearly total for about the past decade, though there were 12 homicides in 2007.

Of the eight homicides this year, arrests have been made in all but one: Melissa Watson, 44, died in the hospital after an April 28 arson on Bonnie Brae Avenue Northeast that also seriously injured Warren Patrolman Doug Hipple. Hipple is still recovering and has not returned to work.

Dr. Humphrey Germaniuk, Trumbull County coroner, ruled that Thrash died of a single gunshot wound to the chest.

One woman who did talk to police said she was in the back seat of a car in the Big Apple parking lot when she heard three gunshots. Thrash ran up to the car she was in, asked for a ride to the hospital and passed out.

The driver of the car drove Thrash to Forum Health Trumbull Memorial Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 3:25 a.m.