An 18-year-old was arrested Jan. 14 in connection to the Jan. 2 shooting death of 37-year-old Danyale E. Piersoll.
KEY POINTS
- Springfield police make arrest in 1st homicide of 2016
- Danyale Piersoll, 37, died of multiple gunshots
- Incident happened in 600 block of E. Southern Ave.
UPDATE @ 11:08 a.m. (Jan. 15)
Deondre Wilgus pleaded not guilty Friday morning in Clark County Municipal Court and his bond was set at $100,000.
UPDATE @ 3:45 p.m. (Jan. 14):
Deondre Wilgus, 18, is booked in the Clark County Jail on a charge of murder. Springfield police say he is accused of fatally shooting his mother’s boyfriend Danyale Piersoll, 37, of Springfield, who died from multiple gunshot wounds, according to the Clark County Coroner’s Office.
Police responded around 10 p.m. Jan. 2 to a report of a man shot at a home in the 600 block of East Southern Avenue in Springfield, a police report says.
Piersoll was found lying on the kitchen floor of the home with several wounds to his chest and neck. He was transferred to Springfield Regional Medical Center, the report says, where he died.
Springfield police say Wilgus has been cooperative in the investigation and has hired a lawyer. He is scheduled to be arraigned Friday on the charges.
Piersoll’s family declined to comment, but said he is a father of three, including twin daughters. His death marks the first homicide investigation in Springfield in 2016. In 2015, Springfield police investigated 13 homicides.
UPDATE @ 5:15 p.m. (Jan. 4):
Springfield police say there are no suspects yet in the fatal shooting of 37-year-old Danyale E. Piersoll.
NewsCenter 7’s Katherine Collins spoke Monday with neighbors who say they’re fed up with the gun violence. This first homicide just days into the New Year comes on the heels of Springfield’s biggest year for homicides with 12 deaths in 2015.
“The community is, I think, hurt is probably as good a term as any by the violence,” said Mayor Warren Copeland. “And there have been a whole large number of attempts to deal with that.”
Copeland said the city is trying to put together a program that would specifically target those young men who seem to be potential perpetrators.
Piersoll’s family said he was a father of three, including two young twin girls.
UPDATE @ 6:35 p.m. (Jan. 3): Neighbors said they heard several gunshots around 10:15 p.m. Saturday right before police were called to the home.
“At first, we heard about six gunshots, said Jason Trinkler, who lives across the street. “We’ve had so many gunshots around here it’s crazy.”
Danyale E. Piersoll, 37, of Springfield, was taken to Springfield Regional Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead. His death marks the first homicide in the city this year. The preliminary cause of death is multiple gunshot wounds, according to the Clark County Coroner’s Office.
Piersoll lived with his parents, police said, and was not a resident of shooting location in the 600 block of East Southern Avenue, which is rental property, online records of the Clark County Auditor’s Office shows.
On Sunday, there were no suspects in custody.
Ryan Carson who lives near the fatal shooting scene, characterized the street as “laid back,” but said sometimes traffic can be busy. “I don’t know what to think,” Carson said. “It’s just crazy somebody got shot in my neighborhood right down the street from my house.”
In October, four people were killed over a nine-day period, which led local leaders in the city to call for an end to the violence.
Two Springfield men, Titus Lee Ford, 36, and Bryant Michael Lawson, 33, were found shot to death in a black SUV on Oct. 28. A week before their deaths, Candance Prunty, 26, was killed by a gunman in her West Mulberry Street home. The following day, Shaquan Newby, 19, was shot dead in front of a house on South Yellow Springs Street.
UPDATE @ 4:48 p.m.
The victim was identified as 37-year-old Danyale E. Piersoll of Springfield by the Clark County Coroner’s Office.
The preliminary finding for cause of death is multiple gunshot wounds, according to the coroner’s office.
Investigators said the victim lived with his parents at a different location than where he was shot.
EARLIER
Police in Springfield are investigating a deadly shooting reported to police at 10:15 p.m. Saturday.
The victim, a man in his 30s, was shot inside a home in the 600 block of East Southern Avenue, Springfield police Sgt. Matthew Buynak said.
He was taken to Springfield Regional Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead. The victim’s body was taken to the Montgomery County Coroner’s Office, where an autopsy will be performed.
