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Arrested man has abused women in the past
YOUNGSTOWN
A Youngstown man with a history of violence against women will face attempted murder charges, accused of slitting the throat of a city woman and then trying to kill her daughter in a dispute earlier this week.
Jamar R. Berry, 32, was marched into the Youngstown Police Department Friday morning, covering his head with a hood. He had been hiding from police for two days after the stabbing on Craiger Avenue on Wednesday.
Capt. Mark Milstead said police do have the right man in custody, but there is still an investigation into why Berry stabbed the 48-year-old woman and her 16-year-old daughter with a box cutter.
“The motive aspect is still under investigation, but this is a particularly vicious attack. The blade was broken off in the juvenile’s head,” he said.
The mother is still in intensive care with cuts to the neck. The daughter has been released from the hospital and is recovering.
According to police, Berry went to the woman’s Craiger Avenue home at about 12:45 a.m. claiming he needed gas money, and the woman allowed him to come inside. The woman’s boyfriend is believed to have owed Berry money.
Berry reportedly attacked the woman, slitting her throat with a box cutter he had been carrying. When the teenage girl walked in on the attack, Berry turned his attack on the girl, demanding money.
The Wednesday attack is not the first time Berry has been accused of assaulting a woman.
A 30-year-old city woman claiming to be Berry’s girlfriend at the time called police in August to report an assault involving Berry. She said she picked Berry up at a known crack house and he was “very high” on crack at the time.
The woman said she was driving and Berry beat her about the head and ribs before taking money from her purse and leaving the car.
Berry was also accused of assaulting a different girlfriend in March 2011. The 24-year-old woman said she was visiting Berry when he became upset, choked her, grabbed her face and pushed her.
Berry has also served four years in prison after a 2005 aggravated-robbery conviction. He had been given probation in the case, but violated its terms and ultimately was sent to prison. He also has past charges on drug paraphernalia possession, unauthorized use of property and theft.