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Two arrested in woman’s death
By Joe Gorman
YOUNGSTOWN
Detectives say the woman who was killed last week as her 2-year-old son slept on her chest was not the target of gunfire at her McBride Street apartment.
Two of the three suspects in her death, Martize Daniels, 18, and Burton McGee, 19, were both arrested as they slept in a Rockford Village apartment complex early Wednesday on murder warrants by the U.S. Marshals Northern Ohio Fugitive Task Force.
The two and a third person, Marquise Dionne Allen Torres-Willis, 21, are charged with murder in the death of Crystal Hernandez, 24, who died about 9:20 p.m. Jan. 24 after several shots were fired at her apartment.
Torres-Willis was still at large Wednesday.
Detective Sgt. Rick Spotleson said the gunmen were looking for Hernandez’s boyfriend, who had been feuding with a group of people.
“It looks like this has been a long simmering issue between these individuals,” police Chief Robin Lees said. “This has been a long-standing back and forth between the two groups.”
Spotleson said Hernandez was bleeding from a bullet wound to the neck when she was found as her son slept on top of her. The boy was not injured.
Her mother, Nivea Ramos, told 21-WFMJ TV, The Vindicator’s broadcast partner, that she doesn’t want anyone else to suffer the pain of her loss.
“I don’t want anyone to forget her. I want her to be known out there just because there cannot be another Crystal with this violence and this crime. It needs to stop,” Ramos said.
She added: “Where are their parents? Why are they out there with guns, where are they getting guns from? I mean Crystal did not deserve to die this way.”
Investigators collected about 40 shell casings from a parking lot behind the apartment Hernandez was in. Lees said three different weapons were used. He said investigators found casings for two handguns and casings which typically means some type of assault weapon was used.
Callers to the city’s 911 system reported a heavy amount of gunfire.
Spotleson said he was able to view security video from the apartment complex to help find the suspects. Lees said detectives had leads within 24 hours, thanks in part to the video.
Detectives are still working the case and there could be more people charged, Lees said.
Daniels and McGee are both in the Mahoning County jail. It is unclear if they will be arraigned Friday in municipal court or if their cases will be directly presented to a Mahoning County grand jury today. The grand jury meets on Thursdays.
In May, Daniels was arrested on weapons charges after he was spotted by police hanging out of a moving car on the East Side. He was later caught after a foot chase where officers noted in a report there was a “significant struggle” to take him into custody. Police later found a gun in the car where Daniels was sitting. He pleaded guilty to charges of attempted improper handling of a firearm in a motor vehicle, assault and obstruction of official business and was sentenced to probation, which was a sentence prosecutors and defense attorneys agreed on.
In January 2018, McGee was indicted with two other people on charges of receiving stolen property, misuse of a credit card and tampering with evidence. He was placed in a diversion program after pleading guilty.
Marshals asked if anyone has information on Torres-Willis that they call 866-4-WANTED or text WANTED and the tip to TIP411. All information is anonymous, and a cash reward may be available.