Bond set at $1M for Ayers Street murder suspect

February 20, 2016 at 12:02a.m.

YOUNGSTOWN

Bond was set at $1 million for a man accused of a homicide on the East Side this week.

Kimani Hodges, 20, of East Auburndale Avenue was arraigned Friday in municipal court before visiting Judge Barbara Watson on a charge of aggravated murder in the death Wednesday of Jason Fonseca, 20, of Ayers Street.

Assistant Prosecutor Jeffrey Moliterno asked for a bond of $1 million because of the nature of the crime.

Walter Richtie, the attorney who represents inmates when they are arraigned via video hookup from the Mahoning County jail, asked for a bond that wasn’t a “king’s ransom.” He also told the judge on behalf of Hodges that his criminal record was mostly as a juvenile.

Moliterno countered, however, that at only 20 years old, Hodges already has juvenile arrests for aggravated robbery and also has arrests for drug possession and disorderly conduct.

Moliterno said Hodges shot Fonseca six times, and the shooting may have stemmed from an argument over a car. Earlier, detectives had said that both men were involved with the same woman and the shooting may have stemmed from that.

Judge Watson agreed with Moliterno and set the bond at $1 million.

Hodges also complained to the judge about a picture of him that appeared in Friday’s Vindicator, saying that it was from a previous arrest. That picture showed Hodges smiling.

Fonseca was shot about 3 p.m. Wednesday in front of his home in front of several witnesses, police said. Hodges was arrested about 11:40 p.m. Wednesday at a home in the 900 block of Cameron Avenue on the South Side.

Some of Fonseca’s family members were in court for the arraignment, but they left without making any statement.