March 10, 2003 — An Ohio University senior is dead, and an OU junior remains hospitalized after an attack by an unknown gunman early yesterday morning in the parking lot of the University Commons Apartments, 15 S. Shafer St.
Athens County Prosecutor C. David Warren said shots were fired before 2:30 a.m. yesterday inside a late model Cadillac Sedan Deville holding both Terris L. Ross, 23, of Fremont, and Nyerre A. Mays, 21 of East Cleveland.
Ross died in the car, and police presumed that after the shooting, Mays ran from the vehicle to an apartment in an adjoining courtyard, Warren said.
Mays initially was taken to O'Bleness Memorial Hospital and then transferred to Grant Medical Center in Columbus, where he was listed last night in fair condition for a gunshot wound to the arm and was to be kept overnight for treatment, a Grant spokeswoman said.
Athens Police Department officers have not said how many shots were fired, but a few witnesses said they heard three shots. Many others said they heard nothing.
Warren said it is highly unlikely Ross and Mays were fighting with each other, but rather a third, unknown person was involved.
Police, including the OU Police Department, stayed on the scene for much of the early morning collecting physical evidence. But, they did not interview residents of the Commons, Warren said.
The Commons night security guard Richard Button said he did hourly walk-throughs of the complex and noticed nothing awry or any loud parties in his most recent walk-through, a half hour before the shooting occurred.
Ross was a marketing major in the College of Business and lived on United Lane, off Route 50 just west of Athens. Mays is a political science major and lives in Riverpark Towers.
Warren said there are no suspects at this time, and he did not know if drugs or alcohol were involved. Police are not commenting on the murder weapon.
Athens Police officers said more information on the crime would be made available this morning.
No OU student has been murdered in the Athens area since September 1993 when Ki-Chul "Andrew" Jung, a Korean student, was killed by blunt head trauma and a gunshot wound, according to Post archives. His killer, Hyunchoel "Charles" Park, also a Korean student, later pleaded guilty to murder with a gun specification and was sentenced to 21.5 years to life in prison. He is serving time in the Allen Correctional Institution in Lima.
In a release from the university, OU Dean of Students Terry Hogan said officials are working to provide support for the victims' friends.
Erik A. Carlson and Jeremy Boren
17 Archives
