Saturday, September 24, 2011
Killing of man, 22, is city’s 13th in 2011
YOUNGSTOWN
City police are looking to question a list of people in connection with the city’s 13th homicide this year.
Quest Wagoner, 22, of Inverness Avenue was found dead on a living-room couch by his mother just before 8 p.m. Thursday.
A coroner’s investigation released Friday afternoon determined that Wagoner died of a single gunshot wound to the head.
Police Capt. Mark Milstead said Wagoner had been dead for several hours before he was found.
Wagoner’s mother told police she spoke with her son earlier in the day about family issues and was trying to contact him an hour later but his cellphone was not on.
She drove to the South Side house and found the doors unlocked and her son dead inside.
Officers responding to the call did find what detectives describe as a small marijuana- growing operation in an upstairs room. There also was money stored along with the suspected marijuana.
“There were a number of plants growing upstairs in the house and some marijuana sitting packaged. Vice squad secured those items at the scene,” Milstead said.
Milstead would not say if police have any suspects in the murder but did say police are looking to speak with a number of people of interest.
Wagoner had been shot once before in June 2010 while standing outside a Steel Street apartment building on the city’s West Side.
According to police reports, Wagoner was spending the night at the apartment with his girlfriend and took his dog for a walk about 2:15 a.m. He told police a dark-colored car containing five men drove past him with one of the men saying they wanted to get even with him for something.
Wagoner told police one of the men opened fire on him with a handgun. He was struck once in the right leg just above the knee.
Police also arrested and charged Wagoner with aggravated burglary in February 2010.
According to police reports, Wagoner had gotten into a verbal argument with his girlfriend and a group of people at a Steel Street apartment, and Wagoner reportedly said he would get a gun and shoot one of the men in the apartment.
Witnesses told police Wagoner did return a short time later, kicked in the door and pointed a shotgun at the man.
Wagoner left the apartment without firing a shot but was arrested a short time later when police spotted him on Roy Street on the city’s West Side.
Wagoner also was the victim of a felonious assault in May 2008 when someone driving a car attempted to hit him and a group of his friends outside a Meridian Road bar after a fight between the car’s driver and the group of friends.
Wagoner also had been accused of domestic violence after a fight with his brother in 2007, charged with criminal damaging to several cars on the West Side in 2007, accused of violating a protection order in 2008, charged with aggravated menacing in 2008 and accused of burglary earlier this year.