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Warrant issued for murder suspect
By joe gorman
youngstown
Police issued warrants Sunday for a man who is a suspect in a Friday afternoon homicide.
Lavelle Stanley, 24, is charged with murder and felonious assault in the killing of 25-year-old Elliot Stewart of Youngstown and the wounding of his brother, 26-year-old Derrick Stewart about 5:20 p.m. at a Southern Boulevard business.
Chief Rod Foley said anyone who knows where Stanley is should contact police at 330-747-7911 or Crimestoppers at 330-746-CLUE.
Reports said the two were shot after Elliot Stewart intervened in an argument between two women, and a man was upset he had got involved. Elliot and the man, who police say is Stanley, seemed to have their differences ironed out before the brothers were shot.
Foley said it appears that the shootings are a trend in some homicides where “respect” is the issue, where someone is angry at someone else, and instead of letting it blow over, they decide to vent their feelings with a gun.
“It’s a shame,” Foley said. “It seems like it’s all about respect. Instead of walking away with bruised feelings, there had to be gunfire.”
Records from Mahoning County Common Pleas Court show Stanley pleaded guilty to a charge of being a felon in possession of a firearm in 2009 and was sentenced to a year in prison.
Elliot Stewart’s death is the 16th homicide of the year in Youngstown. At this point in 2012, there were 25 homicides in Youngstown. The city had 26 homicides last year.