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Home invasion turns deadly on East Side
Photo
Wigfall
Staff report
YOUNGSTOWN
The mother of the city’s most recent homicide victim said her son was not targeted but simply came home when armed thieves invaded the family home.
Police were called to a home at 1171 Scioto Ave. on the East Side about 2:30 a.m. Wednesday in reference to a man being shot.
Officers entered the house through an open garage and side door to find Terrance Wigfall, 27, of that address bleeding from a gunshot wound to the chest and asking for help.
Police said Wigfall was shot by two armed men who invaded the house in the middle of the night while he was not home.
Terry Williams, Wigfall’s mother, said her son was not involved in any activity that would make him a target for criminals. She said the killing was a case of bad timing for her son.
“My son was a good guy, and he didn’t mess with people,” she said. “They [thieves] have been hitting houses in this area and just happened that my son was coming in as they were in my house.”
Williams told police she and her 82-year-old mother were alone and asleep when they were awakened by two men standing over them holding flashlights. Both men wore ski masks.
One man, she said, held them hostage while the second was downstairs apparently searching the home.
The mother said her son came home in the middle of the attempted robbery. The man holding the two women hostage could see her son arriving, she said.
The mother said a struggle could be heard between her son and the man who had been downstairs searching the house, causing the second man to run downstairs and join the fight. She said four or five gunshots rang out shortly after the second man ran downstairs; then there was silence. The suspects had fled.
Police did not have any leads and had made no arrests as of late Wednesday.
Tiona Wigfall-Wright, Terrance Wigfall’s sister, said her brother was “very family-oriented” and loved spending time with his nephews. She said the tragedy is exacerbated by the fact that her brother was expecting his first child to be born in late May or early June next year.
Wigfall had previous convictions for misdemeanor possession of drugs in 2004 and in 2008 as well as a misdemeanor possession of drugs charge earlier this year. Those charges do not appear to be related to his killing, however, police said.
Wigfall is the 23rd homicide in the city this year. The city recorded 19 homicides by this time last year and a total of 20 homicides for 2010.