43
Cops: Early evidence collection key in murder case
By Joe Gorman
YOUNGSTOWN
Police say evidence collected early on in a Nov. 18 homicide investigation led to the secret indictment and ultimate arrest of two suspects.
One of them, Stephon Hopkins, 22, is expected to be arraigned today in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court after he surrendered overnight Monday at the Mahoning County jail on charges of aggravated murder, murder, attempted murder and felonious assault in the death of Christopher Jackson, 21, of Warren and the wounding of another man.
The other suspect, Lorice Moore, 22, was already in the jail.
The men were secretly indicted by a grand jury Jan. 10.
Jackson was found shot to death early Nov. 18 in a running car in a field on Bennington Avenue on the East Side.
The other person who was shot, the driver of the car, was found a couple of blocks away with several gunshot wounds, but survived.
Detective Sgt. Michael Lambert said Jackson and the other man were shot because of a “previous altercation” they had with the suspects. Lambert said Jackson and his friend picked up Moore, Hopkins and a third person nearby and they were all in the back seat of the car when they began shooting, killing Jackson and wounding the driver, causing the car to go off the road and into the field.
The driver ran away but the men in the back seat chased him down and fired several shots before running away themselves.
Lambert said he expects a third person to be charged in the case.
“This all happened in the same car,” Lambert said.
The key to the case was ballistic evidence and DNA evidence that was collected at the crime scene and was tested by the state Bureau of Criminal Investigation, Lambert said.
“It was all the good science stuff,” Lambert said.
Moore has already been arraigned and he remains in the county jail.