Mahoning County grand jury indicts 2 on murder charges

YOUNGSTOWN — A Mahoning County grand jury today handed up aggravated murder charges against two men in separate cases.

Walter Walker, 30, of East Lucius Avenue, was indicted on charges of aggravated murder, attempted murder, felonious assault and aggravated robbery. The charges stem from the murder of Damon Hodges, 35, and wounding of Dustin Greenwalt, 25, in March this year.

Hodges was found dead at about 11 a.m. Saturday in his home in the 100 block of North Lane Avenue on the East Side, and Greenwalt was taken to St. Elizabeth Health Center and treated for gunshot wounds.

Hodges was killed by a gunshot wound to the head, and Greenwalt was shot once in the chest and once in the torso. Hodges was found sitting in a chair inside the Lane Avenue home, but Greenwalt managed to run to a neighboring house for help.

Police believe the motive for this shooting may have been drug-related.

The grand jury also returned an aggravated murder indictment against 17-year-old Kyle J. Patrick of Midland Avenue in the murder of 27-year-old Michael Abighanem in April.

Abighanem, of Thalia Street, was shot after he and a friend went to a house on Silliman Street on the West Side about 4:30 p.m. April 27 so Abighanem could sell a video-game system and a laptop computer.

Police have called the murder the result of a robbery gone bad.

Patrick and Walker will likely be arraigned in common pleas court in two weeks.