Cops: Youngstown man, 23, killed over video game

By Joe Gorman

jgorman@vindy.com

YOUNGSTOWN

Police said a man was killed early Sunday at a home in the 400 block of Idora Avenue over a video game.

Chief of Detectives Capt. Brad Blackburn said there was a dispute over a video game, but he would not say what the dispute was.

Investigators identified the man as Marquise Shelton, 23, who lived the Idora Avenue home. A woman was also shot in the shoulder in the same incident but she is expected to recover.

Officers were called to the home about 12:20 a.m. for a report of gunfire. When they arrived, they found Shelton inside being held by the woman who was wounded, reports said.

Police do have several witnesses and some suspects, Blackburn said.

A news release from the Mahoning County Coroner’s Office said Shelton died of a gunshot wound to the chest that pierced a lung, and his death came after an argument at the home.

In municipal court Monday a Warren man, Willie Chatman, 47, of Lansdowne Boulevard Northwest, was arraigned on misdemeanor charges of resisting arrest and misconduct at an emergency after reports said he was warned four separate times not to cross a police line at the homicide scene.

Reports said that when Chatman crossed the line a fifth time, police tried to take him into custody on a charge of misconduct at an emergency, and he began swinging his elbows, hitting two officers in the face before he was able to be handcuffed.

Records also showed Chatman had two warrants on traffic charges, reports said.

Judge Elizabeth Kobly set his bond at 10 percent of $4,500. He is due back in court next week.

Court records show Shelton had some misdemeanor offenses and traffic offenses. A felony burglary charge in 2014 was dismissed before it was heard by a grand jury.

Shelton’s death is the fourth homicide in the city this year and second within a week. The body of Omar Croom, 22, was found about 1:30 a.m. Wednesday on Oak Street Extension on the East Side. No arrests have been made in that case.

In 2015, Youngstown recorded 23 homicides, with 17 of those cases solved. At this point in 2015, the city had two homicides. The third and fourth homicides of 2015 were not recorded until April 17 and 19, respectively.