WARREN - City police and the U.S. Marshal's Office continued searching for a 28-year-old local man Tuesday night as the main suspect in last week's murder on Warren's southwest side.
Detectives filed a criminal warrant late Monday charging David Martin of Belmont Street N.E., Warren, with felony murder in connection with the shooting death of Jeremy Cole and the wounding of Melissa Putnam, both of Warren.
Martin's last known address was on Belmont, detectives said.
Police reports state that Cole, 21, of Warren, was shot and killed about 12:10 p.m. Thursday at 2220 Oak Circle S.W. A woman who lived at the home, Melissa Putnam, was shot in the hand.
Since the shooting, detectives reported that Putnam also sustained a gunshot to the neck from the same bullet.
She had her hand up in a defensive manner and the bullet pierced it and hit her neck.The bullet remains in Putnam's neck, according to detectives. She has since been released from a local hospital.
Cole, an employee at Career Advantage, was shot once in the head, according to the Trumbull County Coroner's Office, where the death was ruled a homicide.
Neighbors described the incident as an attempted robbery. One said Cole and Putnam were inside when another man entered the house and opened fire.
Detectives confirmed Tuesday that money was stolen from Putnam's purse by the gunman.
A detective said Cole and Putnam know Martin, but weren't aware of his name. They told detectives Martin had been in the house before.
Another detective said Martin has a prior criminal record and had served prison time out of Cuyahoga County for robbery and felonious assault.
Cole's murder was the fourth homicide in Warren this year and the first since July 15 when a teenage girl was gunned down on Hamilton Street S.W.
Police recently arrested a man in the July 15 murder.