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Gunshot death in Newton Falls ruled accident
By Ed Runyan
NEWTON FALLS
The Trumbull County coroner has ruled that Howard Smith’s death early Saturday from a gunshot to the head was an accident.
Dr. Humphrey Germaniuk, county coroner, said he issued the ruling in consultation with detectives with the Trumbull County Homicide Task Force.
Smith’s girlfriend, who said her name was Tammie Szesze, called 911 at 12:37 a.m., asking for help at the Newton Village apartment she shared with Smith, 49, on Ridge Road.
Szesze, sounding panicked, asked for help, saying Smith had just shot himself in the head and that she was now holding the gun he had used.
“Howie, please hold on,” she said to Smith as she spoke with the dispatcher and urged the dispatcher to hurry.
The dispatcher kept Szesze on the phone while ambulance personnel and police headed there.
When asked what happened, Szesze said the two were “laying in bed, and he was showing me the gun, and he said it wasn’t loaded.
“He’s like, ‘Pull the trigger,’ and I said no, and he took it and pulled the trigger and it had a shell in it,” she said.
The dispatcher asked if it was an “accident,” and Szesze said, “I guess so or he meant to do it. I don’t know.”
Smith was pronounced dead at the scene.
Dr. Germaniuk did not specify what factors went into the decision to rule it an accident other than to confirm there was nothing to suggest either a suicide or homicide. He said Smith had a blood-alcohol level of 0.22, which is nearly three times the legal limit to drive an automobile of 0.08.
“Alcohol and gunpowder don’t mix,” he said. He referred other questions to police.
Gene Fixler, Newton Falls police chief, said he cannot discuss specifics of the investigation until it is complete. He plans to turn over the investigation to the county prosecutor for final review and a determination of whether any criminal charges should be filed, Fixler said. “We’re still looking into a couple of things,” Fixler said.
“Dr. Germaniuk is probably one of the best coroners in the state,” he said, adding that the homicide task force is also very good at what it does. The task force consists of different investigators at different times.
Investigators from the sheriff’s office and police departments in Lordstown and Cortland handled this investigation with help from police from Newton Falls, Fixler said.
“When there is a death and a victim, we have to speak for the victim,” Fixler said of the responsibility of police when a suspicious death occurs.