YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (WKBN) –Shannon Strosnider was family oriented.
And her family was there when she was shot to death late June 28, 2014, in a home in the 100 block of Tod Lane.
Police had a suspect who was also charged with another shooting the day before, but he was not charged for Shannon’s death, and a grand jury no billed him for the other shooting.
Today, Shannon’s sister Kelly says there is a hole that was made when Shannon was killed that has never been filled.
“It’s never been the same,” said Kelly. “She was my baby sister. My only sister. Just the bond that we had. We were always there for each other in life.”
Shannon, a native of the West Side who was a Chaney High School graduate, had been battling a myriad of health problems when she was shot and killed at the age of 33.
Shannon and Kelly and another sibling were East Siders until moving to the West Side. Like her sister, Kelly also graduated from Chaney.
Shannon was quiet but enjoyed time with her family. There were always games and Sunday dinners.
“We were very family-oriented,” Kelly said. “We were an Italian family.”
Shannon was also “obsessed” with Guns ‘N Roses in her teen years but liked all kinds of music, which Kelly credited their parents for because they listened to a wide of variety of music.
“Her musical tastes were very eclectic,” Kelly said of her sister.
Shannon, a diabetic, was recuperating from open heart surgery she received in February of 2014, and Kelly and her oldest daughter and ex-boyfriend were visiting Shannon just before she was killed.
There were movies and food and quality family time before the hour got late and everyone decided to go to sleep.
“We had a wonderful day together,” Kelly said.
But the night turned out to be horrific.
Kelly said it was about 1 a.m. and she was sleeping on the first floor of the house when she heard several gunshots and saw two flashes of light outside.
At first, she said, she didn’t think anything of it, but then she heard her daughter start to scream, “Mom, mom, mom, I have to call 911. Aunt Shannon has been shot.”
Shannon was struck by five bullets, one of which punctured a lung, which was the fatal wound. Responding paramedics tried CPR but could not revive her. She died at the scene.
Not only was Kelly’s daughter there, but so was Shannon’s son, who was 10 at the time, according to reports.
Reports said the first officers to show up, Thomas Brown and Shakir Perkins, found several shell casings on the front porch of the home and a dozen bullet holes in the door.
Witnesses there told police that the day before, Shannon’s ex-boyfriend argued with another man. A police report from that incident said the other man pointed a gun and fired a shot at Shannon’s ex-boyfriend.
The suspect in Shannon’s death was arrested about a week later in Farrell, Pa. He was charged with felonious assault for the shot fired at Shannon’s ex-boyfriend, and the case was bound over to Mahoning County Common Pleas Court after a preliminary hearing in municipal court, but a grand jury no billed the case.
Charges were never filed for Shannon’s death. The lead investigator on the case, Detective Sgt. John Perdue, passed away in 2019.
Kelly said not only is she grieving for her sister, but she also worries about her daughter, who was exposed to such a traumatic event as a teenager.
“She has struggled with extreme anger issues since this happened,” Kelly said of her daughter. Of Shannon’s son, Kelly said, “To this day, he is untrusting of people.”
“My sister deserves justice,” Kelly said. “They took away a sister, an aunt, a mother and a friend.”
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 the murder of Shannon Strosnider or the cases below can call the Youngstown Police Department Detective Bureau at 330-742-8911, or CrimeStoppers Youngstown at 330-746-CLUE. If a friend or relative of anyone on the list would like to speak to a reporter they can email contact information to joseph.gorman@wkbn.com.
2014 UNSOLVED HOMICIDES
June 28: Shannon Strosnider, 33, dies after being shot at a home on Tod Lane.
July 28: Zachary Frischkorn, 27, is found shot to death in a vacant lot in the 300 block of Carrol Street.
Aug. 28: Dale Garver, 41, of West Virginia, dies after being shot while counting money in the parking lot of a South Avenue bar.
Oct. 11: The body of Anthony Harrison, 24, is found partially decomposed on Jan. 1, 2015, in weeds near a home on Mabel Avenue. He was believed to have been killed around Oct. 11.
Nov. 16: Bryant K. Abercrombie, 47, of Cleveland, is found dead at a motorcycle club at East Midlothian and Southern boulevards.
Dec. 13: Larry Williams, 36, is found shot to death inside his home on Brooklyn Avenue.