Jamel Smith pleads innocent in murder of Mich. man

YOUNGSTOWN

A suspect in the slaying of a Pontiac, Mich., man has pleaded innocent to charges of murder and illegal gun possession.

Jamel R. Smith, 20, of Kimmel Street, entered his plea Wednesday during an arraignment before Magistrate Dominic J. DeLaurentis Jr. of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court.

The magistrate set no bond, deferring that to Judge Maureen A. Sweeney.

Smith had surrendered at the Youngstown Police Department the day after his Dec. 13 indictment.

Police found the victim, Oneil Williams, 28, dead of gunshot wounds, lying in a pool of blood, Nov. 20 in the rear bedroom of a two-story Atkinson Avenue home on Youngstown’s East Side, with suspected marijuana and a small scale next to his body.

Sources said the shooting apparently was linked to a fight over a woman.