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Ashtabula sheriff: remains belong to Warren girl
By Ed Runyan
JEFFERSON
The remains found in the yard of a former Warren man on U.S. Route 6 in Roaming Shores are those of Alesha Bell, 18, of Warren.
Ashtabula County Sheriff William “Billy” Johnson announced at a news conference Thursday that the Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner’s Office identified bone fragments as having come from Bell.
Her DNA matched DNA that had been gathered from Bell’s mother, Tiffany Knepper of Warren, Johnson said.
DNA was gathered from other individuals also, but Johnson declined to comment on whether remains from more than one person were present. The remains were found in two locations – a burn pit near the house and along a tree line.
Johnson also declined to comment on how Bell died or how long ago – saying it might take weeks or months before the investigation is complete.
“I never expected anyone to do anything like this to my daughter,” a sobbing Knepper told The Vindicator’s broadcast partner, 21 WFMJ-TV, after learning her daughter was dead.
Knepper said she didn’t know the relationship between her daughter and James Brooks, 40, the man who lived at the home where the remains were found. He is charged with abuse of a corpse.
“I heard he was threatening her ... threatening to do something to her family. The rest I don’t know,” Knepper said.
Knepper remembers the last time she spoke to her daughter. “She was going to stay with me and her son and watch movies. But she never came back. You always believed she’d come back. I don’t believe she’s not coming back now,” she told WFMJ.
Investigators say Brooks admitted spending time with Bell in Warren on the day she was last seen. Her cellphone was found at Brooks’ house.
A couple from Farrell, Pa. , told the TV station that their daughter, Jasmaine Smith, also was known to have contact with Brooks. Smith has been missing since June 5. Another Warren female, Elizabeth E. Walter, 18, of Belmont Street Northeast, was at Brooks’ house Aug. 8 when police were called there because of what sounded like a domestic dispute between Brooks and Walter, according to Roaming Shores police.
Ashtabula County Coroner Pamela Lancaster said Thursday her office has ruled Bell’s death a homicide but said she will have to wait for Cuyahoga County officials to provide more details as their examination of the remains continues.
A member of Lancaster’s staff came to Warren on Wednesday to meet with Bell’s family to give them the news, Lancaster said.
The remains were found during the execution of a search warrant at Brooks’ home Aug. 20. The warrant was related to drug activity, but investigators were also aware that Brooks had been seen with Bell in recent months.
Warren police had gone to Brooks’ house Aug. 5 to question him about Bell’s disappearance, and Brooks indicated he had seen her the previous week but denied knowing where she was. Bell was reported missing by her mother July 23.
No additional charges have been filed against Brooks as a result of Bell being identified as a homicide victim, but additional charges could be filed, Ashtabula County Prosecutor Nicholas Iarocci said.
In addition to abuse of a corpse, Brooks is charged with four counts of drug trafficking, four counts of being a felon in possession of a firearm and a count of tampering with evidence after the bones were found. He is in the Ashtabula County jail in lieu of $700,000 bond.
News media from about a dozen outlets throughout Northeast Ohio questioned the sheriff and other officials on a range of issues that have come up since the bones were found – such as whether Brooks was involved in human trafficking – but officials said they would not address any of them.
Brooks had lived at the Roaming Shores address since May,but had an address on Southern Boulevard in Warren when he was cited for playing loud music on Youngstown Road near Bonnie Brae Avenue Southeast on June 19.
Brooks was sentenced in Trumbull County Common Pleas Court to prison terms in 2009 and 2010 for felonious assault and escape.
He lived on Ferndale Avenue Southwest in 2010 when he was sentenced to two years in prison. His address was two blocks from Bell’s address on Southwest Boulevard.