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Neighbors remember man beaten to death
By Joe Gorman
YOUNGSTOWN
Neighbors who knew him say 87-year-old William Cox loved the grandson who police say beat him to death late Monday.
They said Cox took in a troubled Julius Williams, 28, to help him. Instead, Williams is in jail on a charge of aggravated murder in Cox’s death and is expected to be arraigned in municipal court today.
Standing in a backyard across the street from the home in the 300 block of Harvard Street where Cox was found dead about 11:30 p.m. Monday, a group of four men said Cox was well-loved and respected in the neighborhood and he also could make a mean barbecue.
“He’d give you his right arm if he could,” said Kenneth Andrews.
Cox’s death is the fifth homicide of the year in the city. In 2015, Youngstown had 23 homicides. At this time in 2015, there were two homicides in Youngstown. The city did not record its fifth homicide in 2015 until April 19. Of the five homicides this year, police have solved two and have a suspect in a third.
An autopsy by the Mahoning County Coroner’s Office on Tuesday found that Cox died of blunt-force injuries to the head and chest that most likely were caused by a hammer.
Police were called to the home for a body, and they found Cox dead when they arrived. Capt. Brad Blackburn, chief of detectives, said it was Williams who called police, and Williams also gave a statement to detectives before he was taken into custody. Blackburn said the two were arguing before Cox was killed.
In the backyard in the early afternoon sunshine, Andrews, Roy Surles, Surles’ son Tyrell and a fourth man who would not give his name all talked of Cox and how he tried to care for his grandson. The men said they never heard of any trouble between the two before Monday evening.
“He tried to do what he could for him,” Roy Surles said of Cox, who the men said had served in the Navy.
Tyrell Surles said he thinks Williams doesn’t even know what happened.
“When they [police] brought him out, he [Williams] looked like he didn’t know anything at all,” Tyrell Surles said.
“Why he did it – I can’t tell you that,” Andrews said of Williams. “Only he knows.”
Court records show Williams faced a misdemeanor charge of domestic violence in 2007, but the case was dismissed by the state. A reason was not given in the online court file.
The neighbors also talked of the barbecue Cox would cook when the weather was warm and the delicious aroma that would fill the neighborhood. Andrews said Cox was very generous with the food he cooked. They said his speciality was “Chow Chow,” a mixture of cabbage and other greens.
“He’d give everyone some,” Andrews said. “You could eat until you got filled at his house. That man was good.”
The men said Cox was very active for his age. He had a garden he tended yearly, and he also was generous with what he grew, giving away vegetables to neighbors frequently, they said.
Also stopping by Cox’s home was Councilman Nathaniel Pinkard, D-3rd, who said he wanted to stop because Cox was a constituent who called regularly. Often, Pinkard said, Cox would not be angry but would ask for clarification on certain issues council would be voting on. Pinkard called Cox “a great old guy” and said Cox was “very community-minded.”
“I wish I had more citizens like him,” Pinkard said. “He was very current with what was going on.”