Information scarce in unsolved ’01 shooting death on the East Side

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (WKBN) — Information is scarce on the unsolved 2001 shooting death of a man who was found on the East Side.

Alphonso James, 41, was found shot to death on July 21, 2001, at Lansdowne and Arch streets.

James was found by officers who were on patrol at about 2 a.m. in the area and noticed a “strong odor.” The officers Malik Mostella, who is still in the department today, and Christopher Rutland, checked the area and found James’ body down an embankment in the woods about 90 feet away from the intersection.

It is not known how long James may have been there.

A sheet from the Detective Bureau that summarizes all 34 homicides in 2001 said that James had been entered as a missing person before he was found and he was shot in the back and head.

The police report on James’ death is just three sentences and was all that could be found when a public records request was made. James was found on a Saturday and there was a brief story in the next day’s edition of The Vindicator, but a search of the paper for the following week found no other stories on his death.

There was also no footage available in the WKBN archives.

James was one of 34 homicide victims in 2001. Of those cases, 18 are unsolved.

Anyone with information on the death of James can call the Detective Bureau at 330-742-8911 or 330-746-CLUE.

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