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Inmate hangs himself in cell

YOUNGSTOWN – An inmate at the Mahoning County Jail committed suicide by hanging himself in his cell on Tuesday.

Tribune Chronicle news partner WYTV reported Mahoning County Sheriff Jerry Greene confirmed the man was found dead about 1 p.m. He has not yet been identified, but Greene said he was booked into the jail on Sunday.

The Mahoning County Coroner’s Office is investigating the death. Greene told WYTV that an internal investigation also will take place to determine how the inmate was able to kill himself.

Area closing for work on 1907 school building

SOUTHINGTON -Starting Monday, the area near the 1907 school building owned by the township will be closed for construction work.

Township Trustee Chairman Sam Plott said Tuesday the area, which includes an access drive by the township building, will be closed Monday through the month of September.

Plott said work is being done on the exterior of the building, which the township uses for storage.

Quality Construction of Marion at $31,050 is doing exterior work that will include removing a metal frame door, patching work and reworking and improvements to the fire escape.

Officials acquired the building when the school district constructed a new complex south of the township center.

Woman pleads guilty in crash that killed boy

SANDUSKY – A woman who authorities say was drunk when her car went into a river, killing her friend’s 4-year-old son, has pleaded guilty to aggravated vehicular homicide.

Lindsey Gundlach, 32, of Huron, entered the plea Monday and will face up to eight years in prison when she is sentenced in November.

Gundlach had a blood-alcohol content of 0.127 percent after her car plunged into the Huron River in December with her friend’s 4-year-old son and 7-year-old daughter inside.

Divers were called to locate 4-year-old Javin Jaques and free him from the vehicle. He was pronounced dead at a hospital.

Staff, wire reports

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Man convicted of robbery gets two years in prison

WARREN – A Garrettsville man was sentenced to two years in prison Tuesday in Trumbull County Common Pleas Court.

A jury convicted Devon Degenero, 27, of robbery in July for an August 2014 incident in Warren.

Degenero is being held in the Trumbull County Jail. In addition to his prison sentence, Judge Andrew D. Logan ordered Degenero to pay $249 in restitution.

One month after the Warren incident, Degenero was chased by an employee of Sears as he carried a Dewalt drill set into the parking lot.

Niles police officers spotted Degenero too. He dropped the tool and ran back through Sears and into the mall’s main concourse where he was arrested, according to a police report.

Niles Municipal Court Judge Thomas W. Townley sentenced Degenero in May to 180 days in jail, suspending 135 days. Townley also oordered him to pay $1,000 in restitution to Sears.

Tree falls on man in Mercer County

COOLSPRING TOWNSHIP, Pa. – A Carlton, Pa. man was injured Tuesday morning when a tree he was cutting fell on him.

Pennsylvania State Police said Michael Shawn Hiles, 45, was cutting a tree about 9 a.m. on Latonka Drive in Coolspring Township, Mercer County, when the tree fell. Police said he was working with a tree cutting crew in the area when the accident happened.

Crew members were able to move the tree off Hiles and called 911. Hiles was taken to Grove City Medical Center in critical condition and later was flown to a trauma center in Pittsburgh, according to a police report.

Court rejects challenge in prison slayings

CINCINNATI – A federal appeals court has rejected a challenge by an inmate convicted and sentenced to be executed for the slayings of five fellow inmates during a 1993 prison riot in Ohio.

Death row inmate Keith LaMar was convicted of aggravated murder in 1995 in the deaths of five inmates during the riot at the Southern Ohio Correctional Institution in Lucasville. A jury recommended the death penalty in four of the slayings.

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Man from Detroit stabbed in Warren

WARREN – An 18-year-old Detroit man was stabbed with a steak knife outside the Sunoco gas station on East Market Street 11 p.m. Saturday, according to police.

Derontae Travis said he saw people who he had “issues” with inside the gas station, and was attacked as he left, a police report states. He did not give police names or descriptions, the report states.

How serious Travis’ injuries are is unclear. Police said he was attempting to refuse treatment and to sign himself out of the emergency room, according to the report.

Police became aware of the incident when an officer saw a Jeep speeding on South Street SE and then turn into Trumbull Memorial Hospital.

Police investigating reported rape

WARREN – Police here are investigating the reported rape of a 38-year-old North Park Avenue NE woman.

The sexual assault happened sometime between 2:30 and 3:30 a.m. Saturday on Porter Street NE, according to a police report. The woman was examined at St. Joseph Warren Hospital. Police collected a sexual assault kit and clothing as evidence, the report states.

Board rejects candidate protest

WARREN – A protest of the candidacy of James Bluedorn for the city’s 4th Ward council seat will not be considered by the Trumbull County Board of Elections because it was filed too long after the May 5 Democratic primary election.

The protest turned in Aug. 11 by Shawn Carvin, fourth ward resident, states Bluedorn, the winner of the Democratic primary, changed his address from the 3rd Ward to the 4th Ward in December 2014. The complaint says Ohio law states the candidate must live in the ward for one year prior to the date of the elections.

Elections board Deputy Director Stephanie Penrose said she consulted with the Trumbull County Prosecutor’s Office and was told Carvin waited too long to object to Bluedorn’s candidacy.

Bluedorn won a three-way race for the party’s nomination with 51.7 percent of the vote. He defeated Sheila Calko and Gwendolyn A. Hall.

Champion safety crews respond to child emergency

CHAMPION – A 4-year-old girl, who went underwater and had to be revived Monday at Willow Lake Park, was flown by helicopter to Akron Children’s Hospital for treatment, according to township fire Chief John Hickey.

Township firefighters and police officers were called to the park shortly before 6 p.m. for a possible drowning. The girl was found and had lifesaving techniques performed on her by people at the park until the arrival of rescue crews, who took over trying to revive the girl.

The girl was taken to Trumbull Memorial Hospital and then flown to Akron, Hickey said.

Police say man set himself on fire; attempted suicide

COLUMBUS – Police say a man set himself on fire in an attempted suicide outside City Hall in Columbus.

The incident happened around 11 a.m. Monday in front of several witnesses. Numerous 911 calls came in about the fire.

The Columbus Dispatch reports three parks and recreation employees working nearby tried to help the man, with one getting a fire extinguisher from a truck.

Detectives and Columbus fire investigators blocked off the area and spent several hours trying to figure out what happened.

Woman dies 3 days after shooting

COLUMBUS – Police in central Ohio say a 35-year-old Columbus woman died three days after a shooting that also seriously injured her husband.

Columbus police say the couple were shot inside a car last week on the city’s south side during what investigators suspect was a drug deal involving another male who was also in the vehicle.

Police say the woman, Patria Lipson, died Sunday from her injuries. The shooting left her 36-year-old husband in serious condition at a hospital.

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Court date set for coach in porn case

AUSTINTOWN – An assistant girls basketball coach at Austintown Middle School will make his first court appearance on child pornography-related charges Aug. 17.

Rex Bosley, 59, 4583 Rita Ave., Austintown, was charged with pandering sexually oriented material involving a minor, pandering obscenity involving a minor and illegal use of a minor in nudity-oriented material or performance. He is being held in the Mahoning County Jail.

A search of Bosley home’s Wednesday yielded law enforcement a laptop computer and cellphone.

Bosley was hired on a supplemental contract to help coach the middle school girl’s basketball team last year. He is not a teacher in the district, Superintendent Vincent Colaluca said. Colaluca moved to end Bosley latest contract, for the 2015-16 season.

Vienna officials seek injunction on new well

VIENNA -Township trustees are seeking an injunction to prevent another injection well from being placed off state Route 193 near the Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport.

Trustee Vice Chairman Phil Pegg said Thursday trustees recently said they will ask the Ohio Department of Natural Resources to prevent KDA Inc. from drilling its sixth injection well.

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Howland police seek man behind purse snatching

HOWLAND – Township police continue to ask the public for help identifying a man who they said snatched a purse from a shopper at Giant Eagle on Thursday.

Police said the elderly woman’s purse was taken from her shopping cart. It was recovered in Girard, but without her possessions.

Anyone with information is asked to call the police department at 330-856-5555.

Suspect in 4-year-old girl’s shooting arrested

CINCINNATI – Police in Cincinnati say they have arrested a man suspected in a shooting that seriously injured a 4-year-old girl.

A police statement says 20-year-old Darnell Hicks was arrested Tuesday in the July 30 shooting of Martaisha Thomas. Authorities said Hicks was taken into custody after an arrest warrant was issued charging him with felonious assault. Court records don’t list an attorney for him.

Police have said the child was shot in the head after a man opened fire on a crowd outside an apartment building July 30. Authorities told city officials this week that the 4-year-old was expected to survive but remained hospitalized.

A 6-year-old girl shot July 5 was wounded in the head and chest.

Police said Monday that rewards in the shootings were boosted from $1,000 to $10,000.

University creates role to oversee police reform

CINCINNATI – A University of Cincinnati police officer’s fatal shooting of a man he stopped over a missing front license plate has resulted in a new position overseeing the university’s safety and police department reform efforts.

UC President Santa Ono on Tuesday said he has appointed Robin Engel as vice president for safety and reform. The criminal justice researcher and UC professor will coordinate multiple external reviews of the school’s police department.

Engel’s appointment comes in the wake of Officer Ray Tensing’s fatal July 19 shooting of 43-year-old Samuel Dubose. The university fired Tensing shortly after his indictment on murder and voluntary manslaughter charges in Dubose’s death. Tensing has pleaded not guilty.

Engel also will work with the outside company already hired to do an internal review of the shooting.