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Police seeking slaying suspects
By JOHN W. GOODWIN JR.
YOUNGSTOWN
Police are still looking for suspects in the shooting of an 18-year-old man who has now become the city’s latest homicide victim.
Elye Dawson, of West Myrtle Avenue, was shot several times, including once in the throat, as he answered the door to his home Thursday. Dawson’s mother and three younger sisters were only a few feet away when the shots were fired.
Dawson had been taken to St. Elizabeth Health Center and listed in critical condition. He died in the hospital Sunday.
A woman answering the phone at the family home Monday afternoon said the family had no comment about Dawson’s murder or the events leading up to the shooting.
According to police, a member of the Dawson family answered the door at 9:30 p.m. Thursday after hearing several knocks. The girl told police a young black man wearing a red shirt under a black jacket asked for Dawson in a somewhat angry voice.
The girl yelled for Dawson, who had been upstairs at the time, to come to the door. Reports say Dawson came to the door and said, “Who is it?” before the family heard four shots and saw him fall to the floor.
Dawson’s mother and sister were sitting a short distance away on a couch when the shots were fired.
Police still are looking for suspects, but a man told police he watched three young black men park a brown or tan Buick LeSabre nearby on Garfield Avenue then run through a field toward Myrtle. The unidentified citizen said he heard about four gunshots five minutes after the men ran through the field then saw the trio run back to the car and speed away.
Dawson is the 11th homicide victim of the year. There were nine homicides in the city at this time last year and 23 total in 2009.