Man indicted for abuse of a corpse involving Alesha Bell, 18, of Warren

JEFFERSON

James E. Brooks, formerly of Warren, who was indicted last month on federal weapons and drug charges, was indicted Thursday in Ashtabula County Common Pleas Court of abuse of a corpse involving Alesha Bell, 18, of Warren, and four other charges.

The other charges are tampering with evidence, aggravated drug possession, cocaine possession and heroin possession.

The murder investigation involving Bell, whose burned remains were found in a fire pit and at other locations at Brooks residence in August, is ongoing by the Ashtabula County Sheriff's Office and other law enforcement agencies, Nicholas Iarocci, Ashtabula County prosecutor, said in a press release.

The indictment says the drug charges against Brooks contain a specification calling for Brooks, 40, of Roaming Shores, Ohio, to forfeit a laptop computer, $1,016 in cash, a four-wheeler, a motorcycle, a Dodge Charger and a Cadillac Escalade, all of which were found in his possession during a search of his home on U.S. Route 6 in August.