Death of man on the West Side is city's 20th homicide of 2015

YOUNGSTOWN — The death of a West Side man early today on the South Side is the 20th homicide of the year in the city, surpassing last year's total of 19.

Thomas Owens, 33, of Burbank Avenue, was shot in the back of the head about 12:20 a.m. today as he sat in a parked car in front of a home in the 500 block of West Myrtle Avenue.

Owens' death is the fourth homicide in Youngstown in the last eight days dating back to Nov. 6, when a woman was beaten to death in her Cleveland Street home.

Lt. Doug Bobovnyik of the Detective Bureau said someone from a passing car fired several rounds at the car Owens was in. He said he was not yet sure if more than one weapon was fired but police recovered "many, many," shell casings.

"It looks like a lot of rounds were fired," Bobovnyik said.

None of the people in the car with Owens were injured.

The lead investigator on the case is Detective Sgt. Mike Lambert, who charged a man Friday with a Nov. 7 homicide on Montclair Avenue.

Bobovnyik is also working on identifying a man found in a burning car in an Otis Street parking lot on the North Side late Thursday.

Police are treating his death as a homicide.