4 People Shot In Basement Case Identified But Few Clues

The 4 people shot in a basement of a public housing townhome in Akron, Ohio’s northeast side have now been identified. Late Friday evening, the Summit County Medical Examiner also confirmed that all four had been shot in the head execution style and that they had been dead for less than a day when they were found.

According to a local TV news station, the horrifying quadruple slaying could be the single largest homicide ever committed in Akron.

The Akron police has now confirmed the identifications that family members reported earlier. The four young people shot in the basement include 19-year-olds Kiana Welch and Maria Nash, 23-year-old Kem Delaney, and 24-year-old Ronald Roberts.

Diamond Roberts, Ronald’s sister, lived in the Akron Metropolitan Housing Authority townhome but wasn’t at home when the slayings occurred. AMHA spokesman Tony O’Leary has said that violent crime was an unusual event for the normally quiet neighborhood.

The bodies were first discovered before 3 PM on Thursday afternoon, when a visitor noticed what was then described as a “wide open” door and shotgun shells. The police have been canvassing the neighborhood but, at the time of writing, there is still no motive, no suspect, and very few clues other than the 10 shotgun shells collected at the scene.

The 54-year-old father of Ronald Roberts, Donald Durham, has reached out to local media to plead for the shooters to turn themselves in. He also speculated that his son was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.

“I just think he might have got caught up with the wrong crowd. Whoever did this wasn’t looking for him. But they weren’t going to leave any witnesses.”

At least one witness saw Ronald Roberts alive on Thursday morning. Whatever happened to end with 4 people shot in a basement apparently took place within the short span of a few hours.

[police car lights photo Benchill via Wikipedia Commons]