Security Officer Witnessed Murder-Now He’s Dead
CLEVELAND, Ohio December 11 2019 A security officer who witnessed a shooting Sunday while working at a Cleveland nightclub was found slain one day later, police reports say.
Jayme Smith, 29, died after being shot about 2 a.m. Monday in Cleveland’s Broadway-Slavic Village neighborhood, according to a police report.
Earl Franklin Jr., 24, is charged with aggravated murder in Smith’s death, according to court records. He is not in police custody, but a warrant was issued Monday for his arrest.
Cleveland police would not say if the security officer’s death was related to the homicide that he witnessed and have not released a motive for the deadly shooting.
Smith witnessed one of those shootings about 2 a.m. Sunday while working as a security guard at the Epic Lounge on Harvard Avenue near East 173rd Street. He told police he heard a gunshot and saw a 45-year-old man with wounds to his hand and thigh, according to police reports.
Smith also told police he saw the shooter. He gave investigators detailed descriptions of the shooter and the shooter’s car, a burgundy Dodge Ram truck, according to police reports.
Someone drove the 45-year-old man to Euclid Hospital. He was flown via emergency helicopter to MetroHealth, police reports say.
The 45-year-old man told investigators he was standing outside the bar when the shooter walked up and asked for $10. The 45-year-old man said he didn’t have any money, and the gunman shot him through his right hand and thigh, according to police reports.
No one has been arrested or charged in that shooting.
Cleveland police found Smith shot one day later. Officers found him bleeding from a gunshot wound to his chest about 2 a.m. Monday on the sidewalk on East 59th Street near Mound Avenue and believe he may have just left work.
Smith was taken to MetroHealth, where he died, police reports say.
