Warren investigated four homicides, used opiate-reversal drug 94 times in 2016

Staff report

WARREN

The Warren Police Department investigated four homicides in 2016, two of them in the final two months of the year.

The four homicides match the number Warren had in 2015.

The first homicide was June 24 when Jessica Crowder, 36, was shot to death by her boyfriend, R.J. Culver, 27, at Crowder’s home on Jefferson Street Southwest. Culver then went to a nearby vacant house and shot himself to death as police closed in.

The second homicide was July 28, when police say Bresha Meadows, 14, shot her father, Jonathan Meadows Sr., 41, in the head in their home on Hunter Street Northwest. Bresha was charged with aggravated murder and is awaiting trial in Trumbull County Juvenile Court.

The third homicide involved the Nov. 12 shooting death of Becky L. Pyne, 22, whose boyfriend, Shaun R. Simpson, 23, was charged with her death and is in the Trumbull County jail awaiting trial. Police believe the shooting occurred at their home on South Leavitt Road. The couple had a child on Aug. 24, according to birth notices.

The final homicide was Dec. 2, when John P. Kellar, 41, of Niles, was shot to death in a home on Stephens Avenue Northwest. Police have charged Shawn Johnson, 49, who has ties to the Detroit area, in Kellar’s death. Johnson has not been located.

Meanwhile, Warren police administered life-saving naloxone 94 times in 2016 – four times on the same man and twice on two other people.

The same man, 28, was administered the drug on Feb. 5, March 17, April 11 and June 20, police said. He has been in the county jail since November on drug-possession charge.

Naloxone reverses the effects of a drug overdose. Warren police have been carrying it in their cars since May 2015.