Ty-Ron Perry Jr.

YOUNGSTOWN — The Mahoning County Coroner’s Office has identified Ty-Ron Perry Jr., 16, as the boy who was shot to death early May 27 at a home in the 900 block of East Dewey Avenue.

A coroner’s office news release states that the coroner’s office was notified at 1:52 a.m. May 27 of Ty-Ron’s death as a result of a shooting at an East Dewey Avenue home.

An autopsy was performed at the Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner’s Office, and the crim e remains under investigation by the Mahoning County Coroner’s Office and the Youngstown Police Department.

Ty-Ron’s obituary states that he lived in Akron and “carried a kindness behind that crooked smile and freckles, let us not forget about that orange tangled curls. A personality that was unmistakable especially at his youthful age. Not your average young man, he was courageous and authentic.”

It stated that “Boogie was a red headed Rockstar with a future and a rare sense of serenity. A relentless legend to those who he will forever be cherished and loved by.”

SUSPECT

Last Friday, bond was set at $1 million during the arraignment hearing in Youngstown Municipal Court for Darius Smith, 22, who is charged with murder in Ty-Ron’s death.

Smith’s attorney, Frank Cassese, told Judge Renee DiSalvo that he did not think Smith should get a high bond because the killing took place in Smith’s home, “not out on the streets.” He suggested a $100,000 bond.

Cassese said nothing in the records suggests that Smith is a risk to not appear for his future hearings, and this is the first serious offense Smith has “even been alleged to commit.” He has no felony convictions and is a member of the Carpenters Union, Cassese said.

Smith was apprehended the night of the shooting at his house, Cassese added.

Youngstown Assistant Prosecutor Shaina Rochford asked that Smith’s bond be set at $1 million “due to the serious nature of the offenses.” She said the allegations are that Smith “did shoot and kill a minor victim.”

Rochford said Smith had pending charges at the time of his arrest out of the Mahoning County Area Court in Boardman on resisting arrest and obstruction of official business. And he also has “two or more recent” instances in which he failed to appear for court.

In deciding on a $1 million bond, DiSalvo said a pretrial assessment of Smith provided to her states there is a 69% chance that Smith would appear for court.

His preliminary hearing in municipal court is set for 9 a.m. Thursday.

Ty-Ron’s death was the fourth homicide of the year in the city. At this time in 2025, Youngstown had recorded six homicides.

Kaya Dawson, 26, is charged with murder and felonious assault in the third homicide of the year, the April 28 shooting death of motorcyclist Kyree Hornbuckle at Oakwood Avenue and Maryland Avenue on the West Side.

Her case was bound over to Mahoning County Common Pleas Court last Friday. Members of the U.S. Marshals Service arrested Dawson, of Sharon, Pa., on May 7 in Hornbuckle’s death.

A Youngstown police report states that officers were called to the intersection of Maryland and Oakwood avenues at 7:16 p.m. April 28. Officers were told it was a possible accident with injuries “where a man fell off his bike with a young child on board,” the report states.

But when officers arrived, they saw that the driver had serious injuries and was covered in blood, the report states. He was loaded into a private vehicle and taken to St. Elizabeth Youngstown Hospital, where he was pronounced dead from a gunshot wound, the report states.