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Dad pleads for son to turn himself in
By Joe Gorman
YOUNGSTOWN
Robert Reber knows his son can’t come home.
Yet he burst into tears Wednesday when he was informed his 19-year-old son Derrick Reber was arrested at a hotel near the Pittsburgh airport without incident.
The elder Reber said his son had plane tickets to Miami when he was apprehended.
Derrick Reber faces an aggravated murder charge for a homicide early Tuesday morning, and his father was concerned that if Derrick did not turn himself in, someone might get hurt.
“Thank, God. Thank, God. Thank, God,” Reber said repeatedly through tears when he was informed his son was taken into custody without incident.
Reber said he was worried because Derrick had been on the run since dropping off his brother Vincent Reber, 21, and Lorenzo Hilton, 26, Tuesday at a Warren hospital with gunshot wounds police said were inflicted during a shootout about 12:45 a.m. Tuesday with Daniel Sanford, 28, at a home on Belden Avenue.
Sanford was killed. Hilton and Vincent Reber also are charged with Sanford’s murder.
Reber said he was worried because the last time he talked to his son, Derrick promised to “go out in a blaze of glory” and the last thing he wants to see is his son or anyone else getting hurt.
“When he told me that, chills went down my spine,” Reber said. “I love him, and I’m pleading and begging for him to turn himself in. I don’t want to bury my son, and I don’t want anyone else to get hurt.”
Hilton and Vincent Reber were both transferred to St. Elizabeth Youngstown Hospital to be treated for their wounds, where they are staying on a police hold. They are expected to be taken to the Mahoning County jail when they recover.
Reber said he has tried to talk to Vincent, but he is not allowed to speak to him. Reber said Vincent has a gunshot wound to the hand.
Reber said both his sons are addicted to heroin and crack cocaine. They are accused of going with Hilton to rob Sanford, who they know, of money and drugs. He said he spoke to Derrick Tuesday, who called from a private number and would not say where he was.
Reber said his son had a gun and also suffers from bipolar disorder and does not take his medication. Combine that with his drug addiction and he is afraid for the safety of others as well as his son.
“Those three things don’t bode well,” Reber said. “I’m scared of him thinking he has nothing to lose.”
Reber said the mother of both of his sons has been in prison for a while and has not been involved in their lives. He said Derrick’s life took a turn in 2014 when he was 17, and he was branded in a Struthers garage with the lid of a snuff can and Ninja darts. He suffered third-degree burns and had skin-graft surgery to heal the open wounds. He also had a blood infection that could have resulted in death had it gone untreated, according to police reports. Reber said that is when Derrick began using drugs heavily.
“He told me he felt like he was raped,” Reber said of his son’s reaction to the branding. “He said they took his manhood.”
Four adults were charged. One went to prison and two served county jail time while the other received a suspended jail sentence and probation.
Reber said he is sorry for the loss of Sanford and the role his sons allegedly played in Sanford’s death.