Canton home invasion victim dies hours after 4th suspect with lengthy criminal history was arrested
CANTON, Ohio (WOIO) - The Canton Police Department confirmed one of the two victims of a home invasion that happened on Saturday has died.
That victim has been identified by police as 60-year-old Mark Neely.
According to police, the crime happened at the hands of four suspects, three of which have lengthy criminal histories in Canton.
Police said 33-year-old Chasity Leach knocked on the victim’s door in the 1200 block of Raff Road SW around 10:45 p.m. on Saturday.
When a 41-year-old woman answered, 39-year-old Stephen Gill, 31-year-old Damian Mazza, and 47-year-old Joel Owens forced their way inside, according to police.
According to police, the woman told officers she was knocked down and pistol whipped.
Police said Neely then came to help and was pushed down some stairs.
He died from his injuries on Wednesday, according to police.
Canton Municipal Court records show Gill arrested on Sunday, charged with aggravated burglary, and is being held on $250,000 bond.
However, that is not the only crime he was charged with in Canton.
Other records show Gill’s first charge in Canton was traffic related for failure to file annual registration and not wearing a seat belt in June 1999, but his first criminal charges were in July 1999 for disorderly conduct and criminal damaging or endangering.
Here is a list of the lengthy history Stephen Gill has in Canton Municipal Court, according to records:
- DUI (April 2001)
- Petty theft (March 2003)
- Resisting arrest (Nov. 2003)
- Driving under suspension or violation of license restriction (Oct. 2005)
- Safe-cracking (Nov. 2005)
- Driving under suspension (July 2007)
- Driving under suspension or violation of license restriction (July 2010)
- Receiving stolen property (July 2010)
- Domestic violence (April 2012)
- Breaking and entering (April 2012)
- Breaking and entering (Feb. 2013)
- Petty theft (Jan. 2014)
- Breaking and entering (July 2014)
- Failure to comply with an order signal of a police officer (Oct. 2016)
- Possession of open container (April 2018)
- Unlawful possession of dangerous ordinance (Dec. 2018)
- Disorderly conduct (Dec. 2019)
- Forgery (April 2019)
- Possession of Drug Paraphernalia (April 2019)
- Assault (June 2019)
- Receiving stolen property (Sept. 2019)
- Aggravated burglary (Nov. 2019)
Canton Municipal Court records show Leach is being held on a $150,000 bond and has been charged with aggravated burglary.
Damian Mazza was arrested on Sunday, also charged with aggravated burglary, and is being held on $250,000 bond, according to Canton Municipal Court records.
The police report listed Leach and Mazza as homeless.
Canton Municipal Court records also showed Mazza has a length criminal history in that city.
According to Canton Municipal Court records, Mazza was charged with:
- Disorderly conduct (Dec. 2010)
- Burglary (Dec. 2011)
- Drug Abuse (May 2015)
- Not wearing a seat belt (May 2015)
- Burglary (May 2015)
- Obstructing official business (May 2015)
- Assault (May 2015)
- Theft (Feb. 2018)
- Carrying concealed weapons (May 2019)
Canton court records show Joel Owens of Green was charged with complicity to commit aggravated burglary on Thursday, but other Canton court records show that he has a lengthy criminal history spanning over 20 years.
Records show Owens got slapped with traffic charges three months in a row in 1991, including failure to control vehicle, speeding, and driving on a suspended license.
He was charged again with driving on a suspended license in 1994, but the criminal misdemeanor charges in Canton popped up in 1996 with criminal damaging or endangering in July and disorderly conduct by intoxication in December, according to court records.
Canton Municipal Court records show Owens was back in court in 1997 and 1998 for domestic violence charges.
The rest of Joel Owens’ charges that appear in Canton Municipal Court records are as follows:
- Operating a motor vehicle with the lights off (July 1999)
- Leaving a car unattended (May 2003)
- Driving with no tail lights on (Feb. 2004)
- Domestic violence (March 2004)
- Passing bad checks (April 2005)
- Disorderly conduct (June 2005)
- Driving with no driver’s license (Sept. 2005)
- Driving under suspension or violations of license restriction (Nov. 2006)
- Trafficking in cocaine (July 2008)
- Speeding (March 2012)
- Domestic Violence (Dec. 2014)
- Theft (July 2016)
- Aggravated Possession of Drugs (July 2019)
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