MANSFIELD — The shooting death of Malachi Miller, 19, is being treated as a homicide, according to Bob Ball, chief investigator for the Richland County Coroner’s Office.
The Mansfield teenager died early Sunday morning in his 459 S. Main St. residence, according to Mansfield police.
Ball, who identified the victim to Richland Source on Sunday evening, said Miller’s body will be taken for autopsy on Monday morning to the Montgomery County Coroner’s Office in Dayton.
Authorities have not said where Miller was struck nor how many times he was shot.
It would be the city’s fifth homicide of 2024 and the first since April. No arrests have been made in the case.
Mansfield police Chief Jason Bammann said officers responded to 459 S. Main St. at 2:36 a.m. after receiving a report of a shooting.
“Upon arrival, officers entered the residence where they found a 19-year-old male victim inside who had sustained a gunshot wound(s),” Bammann said in a press release.
He said Mansfield Fire Department paramedics arrived, but the victim was pronounced dead at the scene.
“The Richland County Coroner’s Office responded and will be sending the victim for an autopsy as this is an ongoing investigation,” Bammann said.
He said detectives are working to determine what led to the shooting death, as well as to identify a suspect(s).
Detectives and uniformed officers were still on the scene Sunday morning at 9 a.m. Crime scene tape wrapped around the entire scene, including the house, which is behind a building that faces South Main Street.
“Details are limited as this is an active and fluid investigation. Additional details will be released once they are available,” he said.
Anyone with information about this investigation is asked to call Det. Richard Clapp at (419) 755-9470.
