BREAKING NEWS | Death of homeless man in Youngstown ruled a homicide

YOUNGSTOWN — The death of a homeless man who was found late Wednesday behind a downtown parking lot has been ruled a homicide.

Capt. Brad Blackburn, Chief of Detectives, said the ruling was made after an autopsy done by the Mahoning County Coroner’s office officials and a meeting with coroner’s investigators this morning.

James Syster, 55, was found dead face down in a puddle of water behind the parking lots on Front Street just after 10 p.m. Wednesday.

Blackburn did not want to get into the manner of how Syster died. All he would say is the results of the autopsy showed Syster did not die of natural causes.

Syster’s death is the fourth homicide in the city this year.

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