Police say little about why Niles mom was shot to death

Staff report

NILES

Judge Chris Shaker of Niles Municipal Court set bond at $1 million Monday for Ryan M. Daniels, 28, of Warren in the 2:30 a.m. Sunday shooting death of Britney A. Mazanec, 33, of Niles outside of the Hideaway Lounge on Youngstown Road.

Daniels, of Montgomery Street Northwest, was video arraigned from the Trumbull County jail, and a not guilty plea was entered for him to reckless homicide, a charge that carries a possible penalty of five years in prison if convicted.

Mazanec’s father, Greg Stone, expressed disbelief after Daniels’ arraignment that the penalty might be so low for killing his daughter, a mother of young children ages 4 and 6.

“Five years?” Greg Stone said.

Mazanec’s mother, Tammy Stone of Niles, meanwhile, said after the hearing: “I feel lost without my baby. She was so good, nice. She has children. We haven’t told them. We don’t know what to say.”

The Niles Police Department, meanwhile, said it could not release a preliminary report on the case because detectives were still working on it. Capt. John Marshall said Chief Jay Holland was not available to answer questions and provided nothing except that Mazanec died at a hospital after being shot.

He said he could not confirm whether Tammy Stone was right in saying that Mazanec was shot as she was driving away from the tavern.

Tammy Stone said her daughter was out having fun with friends. She said she doesn’t believe her daughter knew Daniels.

“She was leaving in her car almost on Route 422 when she was shot,” Tammy Stone said. “What kind of harm could she have been to anybody?”

Mazanec worked at the Gulf gas station on Youngstown Road near the Burger King, her sister, Cristine Mazanec said. Britney was a Niles McKinley High School graduate.

The Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation came to Niles to help with crime scene investigation, said BCI spokesman Dave O’Neil.