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Police make murder arrests in burned SUV case
Both suspects jailed; arraignments Friday
By Joe Gorman
YOUNGSTOWN
Police say evidence left behind at the scene of a burning SUV with a body inside led to the arrest Wednesday of two people on aggravated murder charges.
Booked into the Mahoning County jail in connection with the Feb. 20 homicide are Terrell Martin, 37, of Tod Lane, and Lyric Moore, 21, of Tyrell Avenue. Both are in the jail until their expected arraignments in municipal court Friday.
Martin was arrested after he had a court date in municipal court on a driving under suspension charge from Jan. 28. Moore was arrested by U.S. Marshals at her apartment on Tyrell Avenue.
The SUV was found about 7:20 a.m. Feb. 20, engulfed in flames behind a vacant home on Knapp Avenue on the city’s far East Side.
The body inside was so badly burned police and coroner’s officials have yet to identify it.
Police are working on the assumption the body is that of Zach Howell, 40, of Youngstown, who is the registered owner of the SUV and has been missing since the vehicle was found.
Lt. Doug Bobovnyik of the detective bureau would not say what evidence was left behind but he did say that without it, police would not have been able to make arrests so quickly.
Howell was a mayoral candidate, but Bobovnyik said his death had nothing to do with the election. He said he did not want to comment on a motive.
Bobovnyik would only say that Moore and Martin “conspired’ to have Howell killed.
Lead investigator on the case is Detective Sgt. Michael Lambert.
The coroner’s office said the body in the SUV was shot twice in the head, and the victim was dead before the SUV was set on fire.
Earlier this week, the coroner’s office asked for assistance if any area dentists had treated Howell to see if they can get records to compare with the dental remains.
Bobovnyik said there is enough “presumptive evidence” that the remains belong to Howell to allow investigators to obtain aggravated murder warrants.
Martin was free on bond on two felony cases out of common pleas court. In the first case, he faces two counts of aggravated robbery, two counts of felonious assault and a count of kidnapping along with three other men.
They are accused of attacking a man twice last June, including firing a shot at the victim on a South Side street.
In the second case, Martin was secretly indicted in October along with 19 other people for their roles in selling marijuana and heroin in Youngstown.
Moore has only a misdemeanor conviction for operating a vehicle under the influence from a March 2016 traffic stop on her record.
She pleaded no contest, was found guilty, and was sentenced to three days in a driver’s intervention school along with fines and court costs.