Warren Township police checking to see if Monday homicide is related to earlier killing


By Ed Runyan

runyan@vindy.com

WARREN

Warren Township police say they are investigating whether a shooting death early Monday at the J&L Lounge on Highland Avenue Southeast is related to an earlier killing.

Police Chief Don Bishop said his department and two other investigative agencies are interviewing witnesses and collecting physical evidence in the 1:57 a.m. shooting of James E. Dotson Jr., 33, of Perkinswood Boulevard Southeast and Syme Street in Masury.

Dotson died at ValleyCare Trumbull Memorial Hospital later Monday, after he was found in the front parking lot of the tavern with multiple gunshot wounds.

Dotson spent 15 years in prison as a result of two crimes he committed, one of which involved the shooting death of a man at the Big Apple Convenient Mart on Youngstown Road at 2:40 a.m. Oct. 3, 2009. Police said Dotson shot Derek Thrash, 20, of Southern Boulevard in the chest.

Dotson pleaded guilty to reckless homicide and a gun charge and was sentenced to five years in prison. He was released from prison in September 2004, according to prison records.

Dotson also was sentenced to 10 years in prison after being tried as an adult for shooting a man in the eye in Comstock Park, now known as North End Park, on Comstock Avenue Northeast in 1999 when Dotson was 16. That victim survived.

Dotson was released from prison July 22, 2009, nine weeks before the Big Apple shooting, presumably the earlier killing Bishop was talking about.

Bishop said Dotson was shot Monday in the back of the tavern and apparently ran toward the front before collapsing. A large area of blood could be seen Monday morning in front of the tavern after investigators had left.

The Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation sent crime-scene investigators to the tavern to collect physical evidence. One detective from the Warren Police Department and one from the Howland Police Department who are part of the Trumbull County Homicide Task Force also assisted, Bishop said.

No arrests have been made in Dotson’s death, but police have information on suspects, Bishop said. When police arrived, lots of people were leaving the bar, and “nobody’s talking.” he said.

A birthday had been taking place at the bar earlier, Bishop said.

The owners of the tavern, who live in Akron, have never been very cooperative, Bishop said.

Warren Township police have been called to the tavern for numerous incidents over the years, though not many in recent years, he said.

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