Wednesday, February 15, 2017
By Joe Gorman
YOUNGSTOWN
Family members of a missing South Side teen were on edge Tuesday after police found a body in a wooded area on the far East Side, after they said they had received several phone calls.
Police would not identify the person found about 3:25 p.m. about 50 feet off Wardle Avenue other than to say the death is a homicide, the third of the year in Youngstown.
Capt. Brad Blackburn, head of the detective bureau, said the victim had been shot several times.
But family members of Savon Williams, 17, of Caledonia Street, made their way to the crime scene, saying they received phone calls from people telling them the victim was Savon. He was last seen Thursday, when his mother said he failed to come home from a friend’s house.
Savon’s stepmother, Tamika Jones, and other family members were pleading with police to tell them whether the body was that of Savon.
“I need to know,” Jones said.
Jones said “a man downtown” called family members and told her Savon was the person police had found. The detectives working the case, Sgts. Ron Barber and Dave Sweeney, walked from the crime scene to meet Jones and the other family members.
Jones said she wanted to show the detectives a picture of Savon she had on her phone and was hoping the detectives could tell her if it was Savon.
“If I show him a picture of his face, will someone tell me?” she asked a patrol officer as the detectives made their way toward her.
The detectives persuaded her to come to the police department to make statements, and they assured her they would look at the picture. As they left, other people showed up and began crying and screaming.
Charles Tarantino, owner of a nearby junkyard at Atkinson Avenue and Liberty Road, found the body. He said he was getting ready to light a fire at the junkyard when two men came up to him and said they saw something strange on Wardle Avenue far off the road, where the faint outlines of a driveway could still be seen.
Tarantino said he walked to the site and discovered the body of a man, wearing only underwear, lying in a puddle. He then called police.
“I looked to make sure he wasn’t drunk or anything,” Tarantino said. “But he didn’t wake up.”
Dr. Joseph Ohr, Mahoning County forensic pathologist, said he was not sure how long the body had been there, but he estimated it could have been there for a couple of days. Dr. Ohr said recent cold weather made estimating a time of death hard because the cold slows down bodily functions.
Blackburn said outdoor crime scenes always complicate matters because evidence is at the mercy of the elements.
Savon’s mother, Shanell Williams, reported her son missing about 10 p.m. Friday, after he left the house about 6 p.m. Thursday. She said she was particularly worried because his phone went straight to voicemail and he had not been on social media for nearly 24 hours.
Family members were questioned by detectives and also waited in the police department’s lobby. Williams said Tuesday night the detectives did not confirm the person found was her son.