Police close case on Aug. shooting deaths in Warren

WARREN — Police say they still don’t know what led up to the Aug. 3 shooting deaths of three people in a car on Southern Boulevard Northwest, but they believe Brandy M. Joseph, 37, of Merriweather Street Northwest, killed the two men in the car.

The Trumbull County coroner ruled that Joseph shot herself to death. But she also shot and killed Devonte L. West, 24, of Hamilton Street Southwest, and Ju’wantae A. Harbin, 18, of Douglas Street Northwest, police say.

West and Joseph were dead at the scene. Harbin, a 2017 graduate of Warren G. Harding High School, died later at St. Elizabeth Youngstown Hospital. The deaths of West and Harbin were homicides.

Sgt. Joe Kistler of the Warren Police Department said the conclusion that Joseph killed the men comes from ballistics testing done by the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation and eyewitness testimony from two people.

The gun evidence indicated that the same gun was used to kill all three people, Kistler said.

He closed the case Nov. 15 after receiving the final ballistic results. Police recovered the gun used in the killings, and they believe Joseph is the only person who fired it.

Police received 911 calls at 7:13 p.m. from people seeing a car travel south on Southern and hearing gunshots coming from the car. The car then failed to navigate a curve and hit a house at the corner of Southern Boulevard and Solar Street.

Police say after the car came to rest, there were more gunshots.

West was the driver and Harbin was the front-seat passenger. Joseph was in the back seat.

For the complete story, read Tuesday's Vindicator and Vindy.com