YOUNGSTOWN - All the fuss next door and James Morgan said he never woke up.
Morgan lives next door to 1948 Atkinson Ave. on the far East Side, where a man was shot to death about 5:25 a.m. Tuesday. Yet he said he heard nothing and no one knocked on his door to ask him any questions.
''I was dead asleep,'' Morgan said.
Article Photos
Tribune Chronicle / Joe Gorman
This house on the East Side of Youngstown is where a Pontiac, Mich., man was shot to death early Tuesday.
The man, Oneil L. Williams, 28, of Pontiac, Mich., is the city's 26th homicide victim of the year and second this week. A man was also found shot to death in a vehicle at a home on Avondale Avenue on the South Side on Sunday.
In 2011, Youngstown had 23 homicides. The Mahoning County Coroner's Office said Williams died of gunshot wounds to the head, chest and stomach.
Police were called by someone in the house that there had been a shooting. When they got there, they found a man lying dead in a puddle of blood from a gunshot wound to the head. There were two spent shell casings next to the victim's body.
A man and a woman were in a car in the driveway when police arrived and told police there was someone inside, reports state.
Chief of Detectives Capt. Mark Milstead said the victim did not live at the home. Police were not releasing his name until they speak to his relatives, but they have an idea of who he is, Milstead said.
''We have a lot of leads we are currently following,'' Milstead said. ''We have persons of interest we are looking forward to talking to.''
One person was being questioned by police immediately after the shooting, Milstead said.
Morgan did not know about the shooting until a couple of hours later, when he was awakened by a pair of reporters who asked if he knew what had happened next door.
Morgan said he heard nothing.
''I'm surprised, too. I'm very surprised,'' Morgan said.
He said the man who lives next door has only been there for a week. He described him as ''nice.''
Morgan said his neighbor did have a lot of visitors.
''There's a lot of traffic but it's very quiet,'' Morgan said.
Morgan has lived on the street since 2008 and lives just two houses away from the corner of Landsdowne Boulevard. He said there is frequent gunfire because of some drug houses on the other end of Atkinson Avenue.
''It's pretty rough. In this area there's a lot of shooting,'' Morgan said. ''I'm a man of God. I try not to let it bother me. I just pray about it.''