Police need help to find suspect

Police have been looking for the man for a month.

By John W. Goodwin Jr.

Photo

Thomas Wright

YOUNGSTOWN — Police are asking the public to help provide information that would lead to the arrest of the man believed to be responsible for the death of Rodney Weaver, the city’s third homicide victim of 2010.

Thomas Wright, 23, of Halleck Avenue, is wanted on charges of aggravated murder and aggravated robbery in the Jan. 12 crime. Officer Marc Gillette of the Mahoning Valley Violent Crimes Task Force said police efforts to find Wright have been unsuccessful, and help from the public would be appreciated.

“We have been looking for him since Jan. 19,” Gillette said. “We have run him for ‘Fugitive of the Week’ three times, and we have been to a lot of locations looking for him. We can’t find him at this time.”

Gillette said Wright is believed to be somewhere in the Youngstown area or possibly Columbus. He is asking anyone with information about Wright’s whereabouts to call (330) 502-3052 or (330) 533-2017.

Gillette said there is a reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of Wright, but no dollar amount has been set.

Weaver, 25, of Catalina Avenue, was pronounced dead at St. Elizabeth Health Center just before 10 p.m. Jan. 12. Weaver was found lying on the ground in front of a Lexington Avenue home on the North Side covered in blood from a gunshot wound.

According to police, Weaver likely was shot at another location before running to the Lexington Avenue area and collapsing. Officers followed footprints and spots of blood in the snow to an area in the 300 block of Broadway, where police believe the shooting took place.

Officers found several large shell casings in the 300 block of Broadway.

Officers spoke with a man who was with Weaver at the time of the shooting.

The man told police he and Weaver went to a house in the 300 block of Broadway, and Weaver knocked on the door.

A short time later, a car pulled up to the house, and a man got out of the car and went to the front door.

The witness told police Weaver came back to the car, and an unidentified man walked up — either from the house or the second car — and demanded all of Weaver’s money. The shooting took place shortly thereafter.

A man living in the home told police he had friends parked outside when the shooting took place. He said he did not see who did the shooting but told officers he was told that someone tried to rob someone outside the house.

jgoodwin@vindy.com