Police who respond to unsolved ’01 homicide find witness who was last to see victim alive

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (WKBN) — When police found 23-year-old Scottie Hornbuckle shot to death on the floor of a 733 Parkview Ave. home late Sept. 28, 2001, they found a witness who said he was the last person to see Hornbuckle alive.

The witness told police he had left to go to a nearby store on Glenwood Avenue to get some chicken wings for himself and Hornbuckle.

It was a cloudy, cool, early autumn evening when the witness came back about 10:40 p.m. and found Hornbuckle shot to death on the floor. An autopsy revealed he had been shot eight times. Among his wounds was a wound to his left hand, which suggests a defensive wound, as if he had his hand up in front of him just before he was shot.

Hornbuckle’s case was never solved. Of 34 people killed in 2001, 18 of those cases are unsolved.

The witness told police that when he returned from the store, another vehicle pulled into the drive and two men inside got out, walked into the house with the witness, then ran outside and drove away when they discovered Hornbuckle’s body.

The witness then drove back to the store where he got the chicken strips and called 911.

Another witness told police the next day that she dropped Hornbuckle off at the home about an hour before he was killed, and the witness accused Hornbuckle of stealing marijuana from him. That witness noticed a 9mm handgun inside the home, but police reports do not list any weapons being recovered.

However, reports do note that investigators found casings from a 9mm handgun along with casings from a .22-caliber handgun.

The witness who told police he discovered Hornbuckle’s body was questioned by detectives and given a gunshot residue test. The results of the test were not listed in reports obtained by WKBN following a public records request.

This story is part of a series of cold cases that WKBN is examining.

Do you have a cold case that you’d like us to look into further? Submit a cold case to WKBN.

Anyone with information on Hornbuckle’s death can call police at 330-742-8911 or CrimeStoppers Youngstown at 330-746-CLUE.

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