Kids at center of drive
Collection will be Dec. 8-9 at Progressive Baptist in Warren
Trending
WARREN -- The children of a slain Warren mother are at the center of a gift card, clothing and toy drive scheduled for next month.
The donation drive will be 2 to 6 p.m. Dec. 8 and 9 in the parking lot of Progressive Baptist Church, located at 2258 Colonial St. SE in Warren.
"I would like to thank the police and Mahoning Valley Crime Stoppers for initiating a reward," said Councilwoman Cheryl Saffold D-6th Ward, a cousin of Ashante Fisher-Kirksey, 26.
"And thank you to the community and U.S. Marshals for the overwhelming support," Saffold added.
She said that while she did not know the victim or her children well because of their age difference, they would see each other at family events.
The four children, three boys and one girl, were left without a mother after Fisher-Kirksey was shot to death Nov. 11. Fisher-Kirksey's family held a vigil in her honor Nov. 14, in which more than 30 people were present to light candles and release balloons with messages to her tied to them.
In a news release from Farrah Jones, president of the Southeast Side Community Association (SESCA), she stated donations will be accepted at Huntington Bank in downtown Warren for the young children. Gift cards, clothing and toys were listed in the press release, but Jones later said that "anything would help."
The following clothing sizes are needed:
• 6-year-old boy, size 6/7
• 5-year-old boy, size 5/6
• 4-year-old boy, size 4/5
• 3-year-old girl, size 3T/4T
"It's just senseless. All of this killing over nothing. Nobody wins, and now there's four children left without a mother," Jones said.
The Northern Ohio Violent Fugitive Task Force (NOVFTF) recently increased the reward to $2,500 for information that leads to the capture of the suspect, Noel Flores Jr., 19. The investigation is ongoing and the Warren Police Department would not release an update on the case over the weekend.
THE MURDER
Flores is suspected of committing the homicide that took place about 2 a.m. Nov. 11. He was released from the Trumbull County jail on charges out of Niles less than a week before the murder, jail records show.
Officers were sent to Fisher-Kirksey's home in the 900 block of Francis Avenue SE after a man called 911 and told dispatchers that his girlfriend had been shot, saying "they" came into the home and shot her in the neck, according to a dispatch call log.
The man told dispatchers that "three" unknown people left the area in a gray Jeep. When police arrived, they said Fisher-Kirksey was "not breathing at all," and later issued a warrant for Flores' arrest.
Neighbors said while they did not know Fisher-Kirksey well because she moved in a few weeks before, she "fit right in" with the rest of the neighborhood, which is filled with children. They also told police they believed Fisher-Kirksey's children were home at the time of the murder.
FLORES' RECORD
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, was 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. He was 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.
Anyone with information about the shooting or the whereabouts of Flores can contact city Detective Nick Carney at 330-841-2660 or the NOVFTF at 1-866-492-6833.