Published: Sunday, October 15, 2006
Riblett Road residents shocked at slaying on their quiet street
Residents heard gunfire just after midnight Friday.
By LAURE CIOFFI
AUSTINTOWN — Marty Ervin and her husband, Josh, said they moved back to Riblett Road from Youngstown just last month to get away from the city violence.
So when Josh Ervin heard noises that sounded like gunshots early Saturday, he really didn't think it was serious, his wife said.
But about 8 a.m. that morning, another neighbor found the bullet-riddled body of a white man in the woods near the homes on the 4000 block of Riblett.
Police Chief Robert Gavalier said the death was a homicide, but police were not ready to publicly identify the victim at 9:30 p.m. Saturday.
Several residents in the area reported hearing gunshots about 12:45 a.m. Saturday. A resident found the body in the woods and called police at 8:07 a.m.
The Mahoning County Coroner's office and Austintown Police detectives are investigating.
Residents shocked
The shock that someone was killed on the quiet street was apparent from neighbors who spoke Saturday night.
"We assumed it was someone shooting a raccoon. I didn't really think someone would be shot," Marty Ervin said.
Davey Wilhelm, 27, said he's lived on the street his entire life and there has never been any violence.
"It's usually pretty quite here," he said.
Another neighbor who asked not to be identified said Riblett is a safe, quiet neighborhood, but described it as dark because there are no streetlights.
More traffic
Marty Ervin said that since word of the homicide got out Saturday there has been more traffic than normal on the street.
She said three people who may have been related to the victim also stopped by Saturday evening asking where the body had been found.
Ervin said she's still surprised that a body was found on her street.
"I grew up about a block from here and we moved back for the peace and quiet," she said.
According to Vindicator files, the township's last homicide occurred in June 2002, when police found Amber Zurcher, 22, strangled in her Compass West apartment.
Christopher Anderson of Austintown was charged with the murder. He was sentenced to a life prison term in December 2003.
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