4 Shot In Basement Found Dead In Akron

Police were investigating the quadruple slaying of four people found shot dead in a basement in a townhouse on Akron’s northeast side. On Thursday afternoon, more than 50 officers were going from door to door to seek out information on who killed the two young men and two young women found on the scene.

Akron Metropolitan Housing Authority executive director Tony O’Leary told the Associated Press that the public housing unit was older but in a quiet area that didn’t normally have a history of violent crime.

Police spokesman Lt. Rick Edwards said that each of the four victims had been shot repeatedly.

An unnamed friend phoned police shortly after 2:30 pm on Thursday. He had tried to call one of the victims but got no answer. When he went over to see why, he told Akron police that he saw the “wide open” door to the basement.

That’s when he saw the shotgun shells and went down to discover the gruesome scene.

Edwards is being somewhat cautious with details while the case is being investigated. However, he said to Fox News: “Our officers came out here to investigate that, did not get an answer at the door; they did force entry into the house and they located the four victims in the basement on the floor. I can tell you that multiple shots were fired inside the basement.”

While the Summit County Medical Examiner’s office has said that they won’t release the identity of the victims until later today, the family members on the scene have spoken out to local reporters. According to them, the four victims found shot execution-style in the basement are 24-year-old Ronald Roberts, 19-year-old Maria Nash, and 23-year-old Kem Delaney. A fourth victim, also in her teens or early twenties, was thought to be Kiana Welch, Roberts’ girlfriend.

So far, the police haven’t released the possible motive or the name of any suspects in the basement shooting of the four people.

[gun photo courtesy Jpogi via Wikipedia Commons]