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History of violent acts surrounded 1 homicide victim
YOUNGSTOWN
One of two people shot dead on the East Side this week had been targeted by gunfire several times before.
Keith Ryan Slade, 20, of Cornell Avenue and 19-year-old Keara McCulough of Clearmont Avenue were found seated in a gray Pontiac about midnight Wednesday dead of gunshot wounds on Benford Lane.
Police are not sure if the couple were shot by the same gun or if there were multiple shooters involved in the murder.
Police are also not saying if the shots were fired from a car or by someone on foot.
Police Chief Rod Foley said Slade appears to have been involved in a feud with a group of people.
“We definitely don’t think this is random,” he said. “There is information out there that some people were feuding with [Slade]. We don’t think right now that the girl was involved in anything. Unfortunately, she may have been in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
There is a history of violent acts surrounding Slade to suggest that the shooters were targeting the 20-year-old man.
According to police, someone riddled Slade’s home with bullets Aug. 27. A woman in the house told police she was sleeping when she heard the sound of gunfire and glass breaking.
In May 2010, Slade was the victim of a shooting on the South Side. Police said he was in a car on Gibson Avenue when he heard gunfire and felt a sharp pain in his side, later realizing he had been shot.
Police said Slade had also been shot in 2008 when he was 15 years old. He was reportedly walking on the South Side when he heard gunfire and realized he had been shot in the leg.
Slade had also been the victim of an aggravated robbery in 2008 when someone pointed a gun at him and stole a necklace he had been wearing.
Slade was arrested last week for driving under suspension.
Foley said there are no suspects in the shooting, but he is hoping that will change with the investigative work of his officers and help from the public.
“We are working with the families right now to determine who was the last person they had contact with, but we are hoping that some people come forward and give us some information,” he said. “Certainly if anyone has any information or think they may know someone we may want to look at, give us a call.”
McCulough and Slade mark the 20th and 21st homicides in the city this year, but the incident also marks the third time this year the city has seen a double homicide — all involving people under 21.
Pako Lacey, 20, and Juanetta Franklin, 17, were found shot dead in an upstairs apartment on East Avondale Avenue in May. Ibn Shakoor, 20, of McBride Street, and Michael Johnson, 20, of Katherine Street, were found in a Chevrolet Tahoe dead of gunshot wounds early June 1. Police say nearly two dozen bullets were fired into the car.
No arrests have been made in either of the previous double murders, but Foley said detectives are still working those cases.
“We have people of interest in both of these cases, but we don’t have enough right now to sign charges on anybody,” he added.