FARRELL —
Two arrests made Tuesday in the Dec. 30 shooting of popular Farrell bar
owner William "Billy” Basilone Jr. are "just the beginning” to
resolving a recent surge in violent crime in the Shenango Valley.
"This is not a joyful occasion,” Southwest Mercer County Regional Police Chief Riley Smoot said. "It’s very, very sad.”
Joshua Lee Stewart, 18, of 1218 Roemer Blvd, Apartment 2, Farrell, was
charged with criminal homicide, and Devine A. Campbell, 17, of 17
Shenango Blvd., Farrell, was charged with conspiracy to commit criminal
homicide, police said.
Both were arraigned by District Judge Ronald E. Antos, Farrell, and
placed in Mercer County Jail without bond, which isn’t applicable in
homicide cases. Even though he’s a minor, Cambell was charged as an
adult, authorities said.
The men were arrested within hours of each other Tuesday afternoon
outside their homes by members of the Mercer County Critical Incident
Response Team.
CIRT also served search warrants on the addresses and removed pieces of
evidence from each location. Smoot didn’t release a search inventory
Tuesday.
"The arrest was based on usage of video footage and some eyewitnesses;
people came forward,” Smoot said. "If it wasn’t for people coming
forward, we would still be in the same place.”
Basilone, 58, lived above his namesake bar at 708 Roemer Blvd. He was
pronounced dead at 12:24 a.m. Saturday at St. Elizabeth Health Center,
Youngstown.
According to the police affidavit:
Witnesses told police Basilone went outside the bar at about 11:30 p.m.
Friday and was shot about five times with a .22 caliber handgun. Nine
shell casings were found at the scene.
Surveillance camera footage and witnesses indicated to police the
gunman was Stewart, who was wearing a gray hooded sweatshirt. Two shots
were fired, and Basilone went down on the sidewalk. The gunman stood
over Basilone and fired several more shots at the bar owner.
Stewart then ran west on Hamilton Avenue, police said.
Witnesses and camera footage also indicated that Campbell was with
Stewart and was seen "hanging around” the bar that night, including
trying to get into the locked bar at least one time before the shooting.
Basilone wasn’t robbed during the shooting and $440 in cash, credit
cards and a gold ring was found on him. A witness also told police there
was no attempt to rob him, that "Joshua Stewart just walked up to
William Basilone and started shooting him.”
The details of the crime shook Smoot, himself a Farrell native and father.
"I’m at a loss for words,” the police chief said. "It was very sad and
discouraging to think (of) the possibility of teenagers resorting to
this type of violence.
"It’s just upsetting,” Smoot said.
The arrests don’t mean the case is closed.
It’s too soon to say if the shooting was related to the armed robberies
that have taken place in the Shenango Valley during the last couple
months, Smoot said.
Police still need people’s help to end this surge in crime, he said.
"This investigation isn’t over,” Smoot said.
The arrests "prove that it works when people come forward and
technology works,” he said of the surveillance video outside the bar and
at neighboring businesses.
As word of the arrests spread by word of mouth and in cyberspace Tuesday, rumors spread that police wouldn’t confirm.
Smoot wouldn’t comment on the involvement of a 15-year-old or that the
shooting spurred from a disagreement between Basilone and some youths
over a pizza. He also wouldn’t say if the crime was gang-related.
"That’s a theory, (but) we have nothing to prove it,” Smoot said.
Both of the accused were on the social networking site Facebook and had
several indirect things to say about the shooting after the fact.
One post on Sunday afternoon, a day and a half after the shooting,
said, "Farrell getin real (and) i f–––––– love it lol (laugh out loud)
happy new years.”
A post Monday asked why people were scared. First they complain Farrell
is boring, he said, then they complain when something happens.
At 12:11 a.m. Monday, that person posted: "White lady kills her
boyfriend....51 days in jail....A n–––– shoot a white girl....Dey lock
dat n–––– up (and) throw away da key.”
Also on Monday, after reports of gunplay in Farrell where a 17-year-old
girl was shot in the leg, Stewart posted the word "GunPlay” on
Campbell’s Facebook page.
Campbell himself had less to say publicly, but at 4:24 a.m. Saturday he posted: "Pistolvania.”
Campbell’s page indicated he had been a student in Farrell Area School
District, and the school, which is within a mile of where Stewart was
picked up, was on temporary lockdown Tuesday afternoon.
Both had GEDs, Smoot said, and neither was a native of Farrell.
Stewart’s Facebook page indicates a tie to San Diego, Calif., while
Campbell had ties to Hermitage.

Everyone loved the guy.  They should burn those two little cocksuckers alive

One kid, 27-ish, was walking home from work and was jumped by a bunch of blacks.  He was stabbed to death.  They said they just did it for kicks.  I had met the kid several months before that.  He was a real nice and sharp kid.

thanks