Eight indicted in shootings that led to Hernandez death

YOUNGSTOWN

A Mahoning County grand jury has indicted eight people for a series of shootings that culminated in the Jan. 24 shooting death of a woman in her East Side apartment.

The indictments were issued Thursday but not certified until today.

Indicted for the murder of Crystal Hernandez, 24, are Marquise Torres-Willis, 22; Joquaun Blair, 21; Maurice Redrick, 19; Larenz Rhodes, 18; Martize Daniels, 18; and Burton McGee, 19.

Police say those men were looking for the boyfriend of Hernandez, Gabriel Smith, 19, and shot up her McBride Street apartment as she was holding her sleeping 2-year-old son because Smith and another man, Lavante Perry, 24, had taken a shot at them earlier in the day.

Smith and Perry were indicted on charges of felonious assault for that shooting.

Police said Smith tried to steal drugs and money from the men, and when they found out, they shot at Smith, who retaliated. The six then went looking for Smith at the apartment of Hernandez and fired several shots at it. Police collected at least 40 shell casings from three different weapons, including an assault weapon.

First responders found Hernandez bleeding from a gunshot wound to the neck and her son asleep on her chest. The boy was not harmed.