CLEVELAND (AP) - A prosecutor says a Cleveland man accused of fatally shooting a Salvation Army worker has been indicted on charges including aggravated murder and authorities are investigating to see whether the slaying and subsequent crimes were racially motivated.
Cuyahoga (ky-uh-HOH’-guh) County prosecutor Michael O’Malley says William Jones was indicted Monday. Court records don’t show an attorney for Jones.
O’Malley says his office is consulting with federal prosecutors to determine if Jared Fier-Plesec’s slaying and subsequent carjackings, assaults and the shooting of a woman in the leg by Jones qualify as hate crimes or civil rights violations. The prosecutor didn’t identify the races of the people involved.
O’Malley says the Salvation Army victim was wearing his Salvation Army uniform and discussing the Bible with someone in a lobby when Jones shot him.
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