A 26-year-old Akron man has been arraigned on two counts of murder, felonious assault and firearms specifications in connection with the fatal shooting of 11-year-old Carmella Holley, who was struck by a stray bullet from gunfire outside a Keys Place apartment in August.
Vernon D. Singleton was formally charged in the crime Wednesday morning in a video appearance from the Summit County Jail.
Common Pleas Chief Magistrate John H. Shoemaker set bond at 10 percent of $1 million.
Carmella was inside an apartment, eating candy and watching a movie with her mother and some friends when she was struck by a bullet that pierced a wall of the second-floor unit. She was taken to Akron Children’s Hospital, where she died four hours later.
Carmella would have been a seventh-grader this year at Roswell Kent Middle School.
Singleton, who turned himself in at police headquarters in September, was subsequently released from jail after a Summit County grand jury decided there wasn’t enough evidence to proceed.
A spokesperson for the county prosecutor said at the time that there was insufficient evidence to prosecute Singleton for his alleged role in the Aug. 3 shooting.
But there apparently was a break in the case at some point afterward.
Akron Police Lt. David Whiddon, a commander in the detective bureau, said Wednesday that investigators had obtained new information. He said it enabled prosecutors to once again present the case to the grand jury.
Whiddon declined to comment on the substance of the information.
“At this point, prosecutors and police haven’t revealed any new evidence, if any, that would allow them to take the case back to a grand jury,” Singleton’s lawyer, Jonathan Sinn, said Wednesday.
He declined to comment further.
Akron police investigators have said previously that a feud between Singleton and another man, 19-year-old Terrance Leon Roane of Columbus, escalated into gunfire in the apartment complex parking lot.
Roane also is being held at the county jail in lieu of $1 million bond. He was indicted in September on charges of felonious assault, discharging a firearm on or near prohibited premises, tampering with evidence and other offenses.
In addition to facing murder charges for Carmella’s death, Singleton and two other suspects were charged in December in a separate case of felonious assault in connection with a drive-by shooting in which an Arnold Avenue home was riddled with 41 gunshots.
Police, who documented the number of shots during their crime scene investigation, said at the time that at least some of the shots came from a 9 mm semiautomatic rifle.
The drive-by shooting apparently was in retaliation for the slaying of Erica Singleton, who was shot Dec. 15 on Grant Street.
Police identified Vernon Singleton as the woman’s brother.
Others charged in connection with the drive-by shooting were Sheldon Bell Jr., 21, and Steve Johnson, 30.
The six-day period in mid-December was described by police as one of the most violent times in the city’s history.
Nine people were shot, and Erica Singleton was one of six who were killed.
A 23-year-old woman was slightly injured during the drive-by shooting at the Arnold Avenue residence. Her children, ages 4 and 2, also were inside but were not hurt.
Singleton is scheduled for his next court appearance Feb. 22 in Common Pleas Court. Judge Elinore Marsh Stormer was assigned to handle the case.
Ed Meyer can be reached at 330-996-3784 or at emeyer@thebeaconjournal.com.
