43
Former Warren man arraigned on charges he caused girl’s death
By Ed Runyan
JEFFERSON
James E. Brooks, 41, of Roaming Shores in Ashtabula County, formerly of Warren, was arraigned Monday in Ashtabula County Common Pleas Court on new charges related to the death of Alesha Bell, 18, of Warren.
He entered a not-guilty plea, and bond was set at $500,000. He also is in jail on federal charges.
Two of the new charges are involuntary manslaughter and accuse him of causing Bell’s death while kidnapping her or abducting her. Other new charges are single counts of trafficking in persons, kidnapping and abduction.
The new charges relate only to Bell, said Nick Iarocci, Ashtabula County prosecutor. None relates to the disappearance of a Farrell, Pa., woman, Jasmaine Smith, 23, Iarocci said.
Smith’s family reported her missing in late June 2015 after last seeing her June 5, 2015. She reportedly had contact with Brooks.
The family had a vigil Saturday to mark the Sunday one-year anniversary of her disappearance.
If convicted on the new charges, Brooks could get about 30 years in prison.
The indictment accuses Brooks of dealing in prostitution – both in Warren and in Roaming Shores, with Bell being one of several women from the Warren and Farrell areas thought to have spent time at Brooks’ home.
When Ashtabula County officials announced last September they had identified human remains outside of Brooks’ home on U.S. Route 6 in Roaming Shores as being those of Bell, they also said they could not be sure whether the remains of other females were there.
Iarocci now says the remains were only those of Bell.
Brooks also faces several drug charges that were incorporated into his new indictment – aggravated drug possession, aggravated heroin possession and aggravated cocaine possession.
He also faces charges of tampering with evidence and abuse of a corpse, which is related to Bell.
Bell’s remains were found Aug. 20 when the Trumbull Ashtabula Group Law Enforcement Task Force went there to serve a search warrant as part of a drug investigation, but authorities suspected that Brooks was somehow tied to the disappearance of Bell.
Bell’s mother reported her missing July 23, and Brooks’ involuntary-manslaughter charges say he caused Bell’s death between July 23 and Aug. 20.
Warren police went to Brooks’ home 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.
Brooks’ federal charges are related to drugs and weapons.
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.