Judge denies bail motion in murder case

YOUNGSTOWN

Judge Anthony Donofrio Tuesday denied a motion by a murder suspect to reduce his $1 million bond.

Following a short hearing in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court, Judge Donofrio said that the facts of the case against Kyle Rice, 29, are “very serious charges, very egregious facts.”

Rice has had a $1 million bond since he was arraigned in municipal court in the Feb. 9 shooting death of Danekua Bankston, 28.

Rice was arrested shortly after Bankston was shot at her Oregon Avenue apartment on the West Side. She died a few days after the shooting at St. Elizabeth Youngstown Hospital.