Candelight vigil for Ashante Fisher-Kirksey
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WARREN -- Friends and loved ones stood in solidarity during a candlelight vigil Tuesday with the family of a shooting victim.
Visitors formed a circle in the front yard of the Francis Avenue home where Ashante Fisher-Kirksey, 26, was shot to death Saturday. She was the mother of four children.
Approximately 35 attendees lit candles, released balloons, talked about Fisher-Kirksey and prayed. Some told stories about the victim's life and described her as a loving person who is "gone too soon."
"We're praying that, of course, if anyone has any information, please just come forward," Ashley Martin, the woman's aunt, said.
"Look into the aspect of if this was your mom, or your child, and the fact that she has children. Allow the family to sleep a little better at night, knowing that he is back where he was before."
She was referring to the suspect, Noel Flores Jr., 19, who was released from the Trumbull County jail on charges out of Niles less than a week before the murder.
A man who called 911 about 2 a.m. Saturday told dispatchers that his girlfriend had been shot, saying "they" came into the Francis Avenue residence behind him and shot his girlfriend in the neck, according to a dispatch call log. The man also told dispatchers that "three" unknown people left the area in a gray Jeep.
Police said Fisher-Kirksey was "not breathing at all" in her home in the 900 block of Francis Avenue SE. Warren police later issued a warrant for Flores' arrest.
Neighbors said Fisher-Kirksey moved into the home a few weeks ago, so they did not know her well. However, they said that the family "fit right in" with the rest of the neighborhood, which is filled with children. They told police they believed Fisher-Kirksey's children were home at the time of the murder.
Following the shooting, Fisher-Kirksey's social media page, where she used the name Ashante Peddi, received more than 100 comments by 8 p.m. Saturday about her being a great mom and friend.
According to Tribune Chronicle archives, Flores was accused in the April 24, 2022, shooting of a 17-year-old boy in the area of the Warren Heights apartment complex.
Flores was arrested at his home April 27, 2022, according to a police report from the Warren Street Crimes Unit. The report stated that Flores jumped out of a second-story window at the rear of the residence in an attempt to flee, until he was handcuffed by two residents.
According to county jail records, Flores was arrested Sept. 4 by Niles police and charged with aggravated menacing, following the filing of a warrant Aug. 21. Niles Municipal Court records show he pleaded guilty Sept. 5, fined $500 and sentenced to 180 days in jail, with credit for two days already served and 118 days suspended.
He also was banned permanently from the Royal Mall apartment complex and banned from owning a firearm as well as ordered to have no contact with the victim while on one year of probation, court records show.
He sought early release Oct. 4, but it was denied. He was released from the jail Nov. 7, records show.
"Had he stayed in there (jail), this wouldn't have happened, and we wouldn't have to be dealing with this," Martin said at the vigil.
"It just didn't have to happen," a cousin of Kirksey's said. "And over what? I think we all just need to (understand) your time will come.
"Make the best of the time that you have on earth. Do what you have to do, mind your business, stay out of trouble, and that's it. Taking lives makes no sense, and there's never going to be sense. And we all have to answer at the end of the day."
Kirksey's uncle, Tony Fisher, added, "I hope they catch the person who did it.
"It was senseless. How can you know someone you've never met before? She's my niece, and this needs to stop. But as long as they catch the person who did it, I have no animosity toward them. I should, but I don't."
Anyone with information about Saturday's shooting or the whereabouts of Flores can contact city Detective Nick Carney at 330-841-2660.