Warren man arrested in August murder

Staff report

WARREN

The U.S. Marshal’s Violent Fugitives Task Force arrested David R. Blackmon Jr., 47, of 1900 Deerfield Street SW, on Wednesday afternoon in the Aug. 5 murder of Mitchell Pruitt, 50.

Pruitt was found dead of multiple gunshot wounds at his home at 1570 Deerfield Ave. SW at 2:30 a.m. Aug. 5.

His girlfriend said she heard three gunshots while walking to Pruitt’s house. She found him unresponsive in the kitchen.

Blackmon was arrested at a home at 1888 Deerfield at 2 p.m. Wednesday and found to be in possession of a small amount of crack cocaine and a glass crack pipe.

Officers also found a box of bullets and a gun holster in his home. He’s not permitted to have firearms or ammunition as a result of a previous felony conviction.

He was taken to the Trumbull County Jail on an arrest warrant charging him with murder as well as the new drug-possession charge.

He is likely to be arraigned on the murder charge today in Trumbull County Common Pleas Court.

Blackmon was convicted in 2004 of a cocaine-possession offense and was sentenced to six months in prison. Pruitt had a misdemeanor criminal record in Warren Municipal Court.