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WARREN -- Police are investigating the city's fourth homicide of the year after a man was found shot to death early Sunday inside a home at 239 Homewood Ave. SE.
The initial 911 call came in at 7:39 a.m. as a possible overdose, but after further investigation, police discovered the man had suffered a gunshot wound, according to a police report. The death is being investigated as a homicide, the report states.
The victim's identity has not been released and messages left for Warren police Chief Eric Merkel for more information were not returned Sunday afternoon.
The city recorded its first homicide of 2020 on New Year's Day when Annie Miller, 86, was found dead inside her home at 366 Douglas St. NW following a call from her daughter asking police to check on her because her daughter could not reach her. The woman had been shot and neighbors reported hearing multiple gunshots around 2 a.m. Jan. 1, according to a police report.
On Jan. 27, Timothy Allen Jr., 34, 1584 Ferndale Ave. SW, was found shot to death outside of a vehicle on Martin Street, which is close to where the shooting occurred near 599 Lane Drive at the Hampshire House apartments.
Those two homicides, as well as Sunday's, remain unsolved.
Police did make an arrest in the Feb. 10 stabbing death of 27-year-old Marlon D. Smith. Walter L. Toles, 54, of Braceville, was indicted Feb. 13 in a special Trumbull County grand jury report on charges of aggravated murder, aggravated burglary and aggravated robbery in connection to Smith's death.
Smith was found by his mother bleeding on the floor of his home at 236 Oriole Place SW, Warren. Smith was later pronounced dead at the hospital.
The Trumbull County Coroner's office ruled Smith's death a homicide from a stab wound to the neck.
Warren police officers said they were able to make a quick arrest because of evidence at the scene and the cooperation of witnesses.
During the 911 call on Feb. 10, Smith's mother, Angela, said she went to the house during her lunch break because one of the windows there was broken for the last four to five months, and someone was supposed to be at the house to repair it.
The mother told the dispatcher that she rang the doorbell and knocked on the door several times, but no one answered. She let herself into the home with a spare key, according to a police report.
She found her son on his knees on the couch. When she turned him over, she told the dispatchers there was blood all over and she thought he was dead.
An affidavit filed by Warren detectives with the clerk of courts office reveals more about the investigation.
During a search of the Oriole Place SW home, it was determined that Smith's cellphone was not there. But detectives did find on the couch where Smith was found a commercial driver's license and an Ohio corrections card belonging to Toles, the affidavit states.
Smith's mother also told detectives that her son's gold watch was missing.
While two Warren detectives were interviewing Toles at his Braceville home, the affidavit states one of them dialed Smith's phone number and the phone rang and was audible to both detectives.
While Toles was being arrested, the detectives found the victim's cellphone, a screwdriver and a folding knife on the suspect. Detectives also noticed blood on Toles' pants pocket and jacket. Detectives discovered "Toles' clothes were covered with blood" after he removed his outer layer of clothes, the affidavit states. A further search found the gold watch on Toles' person, the affidavit states.
Warren had eight homicides last year.