Man shot to death early Sunday in Warren has a history with guns

WARREN — Martell S. Williams, 22, who died early Sunday after being shot at an apartment building near the former St. Joseph Riverside Hospital, was arrested inside one of the apartments in March for firing and possessing weapons.

No arrests have been made in the killing, which could be Warren's second homicide of the year. The Trumbull County coroner has not yet ruled on the death.

Williams, of Boston Avenue Southeast, was arrested March 16, 2017, inside an apartment he shared with his girlfriend at the Stonegate Place apartments on Robert Avenue Northwest after police were called there for gunfire.

A caller reported that it sounded like someone was firing out an apartment window.

Police found Williams, his girlfriend and another man in the woman’s apartment. They also found two fired shell casings on the living room floor and smelled gun powder.

Officers found two handguns in a closet and took them into evidence. Williams was later indicted on two counts of receiving stolen property and one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm, though a charge of discharging firearms was dismissed in municipal court.

He was also indicted again in December on being a felon in possession of a firearm, plus improperly handing firearms in a motor vehicle and three drug-possession charges tied to a June arrest during a traffic stop.

Both cases are still pending in Trumbull County Common Pleas Court.

The county 911 center received about 15 calls from people living in or near the apartments to report the 4:06 a.m. shooting.

“I heard it clear as day,” one caller told a dispatcher. “Most times I hear them, but I’ve never heard them like that,” the woman said, apparently referring to previous gunfire in the neighborhood. “They sounded like they were closer than normal.”

Close to four hours later, several calls came into the 911 center again about gunfire.

“A whole van just pulled up and started shooting,” a witness said in a 7:46 a.m. 911 call. “It’s getting ridiculous out here.”