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Bond set at $2.2 million for Niles man charged in knifing death of man, injuries to ex-girlfriend
Suspect’s former girlfriend hospitalized with injuries
By ED RUNYAN
NILES
Though an aunt of Edward D. Anderson Jr.’s said he is “not a violent person,” the murder and aggravated-assault charges Anderson faces and his history with one of the victims suggest otherwise.
Anderson, 20, is in the Trumbull County jail in lieu of $2.2 million bond after a 4:55 p.m. Saturday fight involving his recent former girlfriend at the apartment they shared on Warren Avenue. Not-guilty pleas were entered for him during his arraignment.
Police say they don’t know the relationship between Michael L. Tsarnas, 41, of Reed Avenue in Campbell, who died after being taken to the Trumbull Regional Medical Center for knife wounds, and Anderson’s former girlfriend, Melissa R. Stroud, 19. Police said Stroud had serious injuries when she was taken to Trumbull Regional.
Niles Police Chief Jay Holland said Tsarnas had gone to help Stroud clean up and remove her belongings from the first-floor apartment.
Anderson showed up, a confrontation began, and the two victims were stabbed with a “military-style knife,” Holland said.
When police arrived, it wasn’t initially clear which of the two victims was in the most danger. Both had been stabbed multiple times. Anderson was found in the rear of the home “covered in blood,” Holland said.
Anderson didn’t run from officers and spoke with them before he was booked into the Trumbull County jail at 3:20 a.m. Sunday.
During his arraignment Monday morning in Niles Municipal Court, two women who said later they were Anderson’s aunts sat with a man and others. The man shook his head back and forth and cried as Anderson was arraigned before Judge Chris Shaker.
One of the women told reporters afterward that she is Anderson’s aunt. “I know he didn’t do it maliciously. He’s not a violent person. He was provoked,” she said.
But a Sept. 20 protection order petition on file at Trumbull County Family Court contains hand-written allegations from Stroud saying Anderson had hit her on multiple occasions.
A photo was included with the petition showing Stroud with a bruised face that she said Anderson inflicted Sept. 15.
She said during that argument, Anderson “shoved my head into a door frame.”
Stroud’s petition said they had a fight Sept. 20 because Anderson called off sick from work at 4:30 a.m. and kept trying to wake her up, but she wanted to sleep.
Eventually, he chased her out of the house, bit her and “dragged me out of the car by my ankles.”
A Sept. 20 Niles police report says neighbors called 911 at 7 a.m. after seeing Anderson assaulting Stroud in the backyard. When police spoke to the couple, they said it was verbal only, and they agreed to separate for the day.
In December 2017, Anderson stole the keys to her car after giving her a concussion and destroying her car, Stroud said in the petition.
It’s apparently the same crash that Weathersfield Township police said in a report Anderson had Dec. 9, 2017. He was charged with failure to stop after an accident, driving without a license and failure to control. He was found guilty of the charges Dec. 21, 2017, in Niles Municipal Court.
Holland said Anderson, Stroud and Tsarnas had lived in Campbell at one time. Anderson has used an address on Chambers Street in Campbell, and Stroud has used a Bright Avenue address. Anderson also was using an addresses on Cannon Street and Warren Avenue in Niles.
If Tsarnas’ death is ruled a homicide, it will be the second one in Niles this year. Robin L. Caviness Jr., 39, of Howland is charged with murder in the June 11 shooting death of Clayton Bender, 23, of Warren behind Madden’s Bar and Grill on Youngstown Road.