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WARREN -- The search for a suspect in the murder of a Warren mother of four children has ended. U.S. Marshals announced Tuesday that 19-year-old Noel Flores Jr. was apprehended in Florida.
Flores was wanted by the Warren Police Department for the shooting death of 26-year-old Ashante Kirksey at her residence in the 900 block of Francis Avenue on Nov. 11.
The Northern Ohio Violent Fugitive Task Force (NOVFTF) stated in a news release that late last week, information was gathered that Flores had fled Ohio and was staying near St. Petersburg, Florida. The Ohio task force worked with Florida marshals over the past few days and early into Tuesday afternoon.
Flores was tracked to an apartment in the 10100 block of 12th Way North in St. Petersburg and found to be in possession of a 9-mm firearm, which is the same caliber weapon used in Kirksey's shooting death. The firearm was seized by authorities, according to the task force.
Flores was booked into Pinellas County Jail pending an extradition to Ohio.
U.S. Marshal Pete Elliott stated, "This is another example of the dedication our task force officers put into every investigation. This fugitive attempted to evade the reach of the U.S. Marshals Service but was unsuccessful because we will never stop looking for them no matter how far they run."
According to an obituary, Flores is the son of another Warren murder victim from earlier this year, 43-year-old Ruby Sanchez, who was shot to death in her 5th Street SW apartment on March 27. Jamarr Jenkins, 19, of Kenmore Avenue SE, was indicted Oct. 12 on charges of aggravated murder, murder, felonious assault and child endangering.
The latter charge was the result of a 2-year-old boy being wounded in the same incident by a bullet that came through the window of an apartment in the same complex.
Jenkins is being held at the Trumbull County jail on a $100,000 bond and his trial is set for Feb. 12, court records show.
According to Tribune Chronicle archives, Flores was accused in the April 24, 2022, shooting of a 17-year-old boy in the Warren Heights area. He lived on Martin Street SW at the time.
A police report states members of the Warren Police Street Crimes Unit arrested Flores at his home shortly after noon April 27, 2022.
The report states Flores had jumped out of a second-story window at the rear of the residence in an attempt to flee. Two officers caught up to him and put him into handcuffs.
His case was bound over to a Trumbull County grand jury June 30, 2022, but the panel declined to indict him on a felonious assault charge in August 2022, court records show.
According to Trumbull County jail records, Flores was arrested Sept. 4 by Niles police on a charge of aggravated menacing following the filing of a warrant Aug. 21. Niles Municipal Court records show he pleaded guilty Sept. 5 and was fined $500 and sentenced to 180 days in jail, with credit for two days served and 118 days suspended.
He also was permanently banned 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.