MANSFIELD — The 18-year-old shot to death Sunday morning in an alley between Lexington Avenue and South Main Street has been identified as Ja’Myrion Hobbs.
Bob Ball, chief investigator for the Richland County Coroner’s Office, said Monday that Hobbs, a Mansfield resident, was shot multiple times.
The victim turned 18 in June, Ball said.
The body will be taken to the Montgomery County Coroner’s Office for autopsy, he said.
Mansfield police Chief Jason Bammann said Monday the department has received multiple tips and leads from the public about the homicide.
“We need that to continue,” the chief said. “Based on information we have received, we believe there are several suspects in this case.”
Bammann, who said it appeared more than one gun was used in the homicide, said detectives served several search warrants on Sunday and Monday.
“The intelligence we are getting is great. I would ask the public not to assume we know the information they have. Please call,” said the chief, adding it’s the city’s first homicide of 2025.
Anyone with information regarding this incident is asked to contact Det. Korey Kaufman at 419-755-9748. Information can be taken over the phone, police said.
Mansfield police were dispatched around 11 a.m. to an area in the 200 block of South Main Street, responding to a reported shooting.
“Upon arrival, officers located a subject near an alley who appeared to have sustained multiple gunshot wounds,” the chief said.
Police tape covered a wide swath of area between Lexington Avenue and Main Street, just behind Jones Printing.
The victim was taken by Mansfield Fire Department rescue squad to OhioHealth Mansfield Hospital, where he was pronounced dead, Bammann said.
Police said it didn’t appear to be a random act and there is no immediate danger to the public.
“It didn’t appear to be a random attack. They were looking for (the victim),” the chief said.