Warren man dies after being robbed, assaulted at Budget Lodge

Staff report

WARREN

A man robbed and assaulted at Budget Lodge on state Route 5 in Braceville on Dec. 10 died Dec. 20, according to his obituary.

But investigators will have to wait until the Cuyahoga County Coroner’s Office rules on the cause and manner of death before they know whether they are investigating a murder.

Jeffrey L. Morgan, 53, of Merriweather Street Northwest, died in Cleveland Clinic. He was employed as a Warren city laborer, his obituary says.

Investigators from the Trumbull County Sheriff’s Office have been investigating the case as a possible homicide, but the coroner’s report will determine whether that is what Morgan’s death was, said sheriff’s Detective Mike Yanucci.

Earlier calls from The Vindicator asking investigators for an update in the case were not returned.

Morgan was in critical condition in Cleveland Clinic shortly after he reported being robbed and assaulted after answering the door at 7:20 a.m. Dec. 10.

He told Trumbull County deputy sheriffs a man knocked on his motel-room door. When Morgan opened it, the man held a handgun and punched Morgan in the face.

A deputy said he observed a trail of blood leading from Morgan’s room to the front office area, but the motel manager said he didn’t witness or hear anything unusual.

Morgan’s only description of the suspect was that he was wearing all black, including black leather gloves. The assailant got into a white vehicle and drove off, Morgan said.

The suspect took Morgan’s wallet and car keys, he said. Morgan refused medical treatment from an ambulance crew from Braceville Township.

Later that day, a nurse at ValleyCare Trumbull Memorial Hospital told the county 911 center Morgan had come to the hospital with a cranial bleed and was later transferred to St. Elizabeth Youngstown Hospital, and later, to Cleveland Clinic.