MANSFIELD — Mansfield police have charged two men with murder in the Sunday morning shooting death of a 25-year-old man on Blymyer Avenue.
Michael Lee Coffee Jr., 30, and Avanta Shemar Dakota Payne Adams, 22, are charged with first-degree felony murder, according to Mansfield police Chief Keith Porch.
“Shortly after the investigation began, detectives were able to get some names of possible suspects and were able to develop the case,” Porch told Richland Source.
“We definitely appreciate the public’s assistance and the hard work of the detectives doing the investigation,” Porch said.
The murder charges were approved Sunday evening after detectives met with the office of Richland County Prosecutor Jodie Schumacher, the chief said.
Porch said the next step is to get the two suspects into custody without incident. He said both men are considered armed and dangerous.
“I would recommend both men turn themselves in now to answer to the charges,” the chief said.
Jahajee Cobb, 25, was shot to death around 2:30 a.m. at 137 Blymer Ave. He became the ninth homicide victim in the city during 2023, according to Bob Ball, the chief investigator for the Richland County Coroner’s Office.
That total includes an inmate at the Mansfield Correctional Institution killed in June.
It’s the eighth homicide handled by Mansfield police, the most in at least the last decade. The MPD handled seven homicides during 2017 and 2018, according to department records, which had been the highest totals since 2012.
There were six in all of 2022.
The Bucyrus Post of the Ohio State Highway Patrol handles crimes in the two state prisons within city limits.
Mansfield police responded Sunday morning to 911 calls and also reports through the city’s ShotSpotter system, according to Asst. Chief Jason Bammann.
Three other residents suffered non-life threatening gunshot wounds and made their way to the hospital, Porch said.
