CANTON — It's been a year since three people were killed in one night in Canton. Three hundred and sixty-five days later, two of those homicides remain unsolved.
The violence on Jul. 21, 2020 started just before 8:30 p.m. in the 1400 block of Louisiana Court Northwest. Ronald Pleasant, 31, was shot and killed at the scene. A 21-year-old man was also shot and treated at a nearby hospital.
Then, just over two hours later, 18-year-old Brandon Bushe and his friend were both shot in the 100 block of Pulley Place SE. Both were taken to local hospitals where Bushe died from his injuries.
The third homicide happened at around 2:28 a.m. the next morning in the 1600 block of Clarendon Avenue SW. One-year-old twin brothers were shot while sleeping inside a home on Clarendon Avenue. Both were taken to local hospitals where one of the brothers, Ace Lucas, died.
Back in December, police arrested 23-year-old Trejuan Johnson and charged him in Lucas’s murder.
No one has been charged in Pleasant’s or Bushe’s deaths.
“I know somebody saw something. I understand they’re scared. I understand retaliation. But I don't understand how you can live with yourself, knowing that you know something like that,” said Dawn Millar, Bushe’s mom.
Millar said the case going unsolved has prevented her family from healing and getting the closure they need.
“He was my savior. And my life. He's not here anymore. I just love him. I miss him,” said Millar.
“Brandon and I, we spent a lot of time together, played a lot of ‘bat the ball’, I used to call him Slugger Joe. That was his nickname,” said Diana Mihal, Bushe’s grandmother.
One year ago Wednesday, their lives changed forever and ever since, Millar said her emotions have been frozen in time.
“I feel the same way, sick to my stomach, I feel nauseated and just not good,” said Millar.
Millar said she was sleeping when the shooting occurred and didn’t find out about her son’s death until the next morning after reading Facebook messages.
“I got a phone call from my girlfriend and she told me that it was real. And I kind of just fell to the ground, crying, screaming,” said Millar.
Now with one year gone by, Millar and Mihal are heartbroken by the case going unsolved because they believe someone knows who killed Bushe and isn’t speaking up.
“If it was me, and I knew a friend of mine’s child got killed, and I knew who it was, I would speak up,” said Mihal. “It certainly would ease their conscience, and it would give Dawn and I peace of mind. Peace of mind, closure.”
Millar said police have told her tips keep coming in about the case, but it hasn’t led to anything.
So now, she and her mom are pleading with anyone who knows anything to come forward.
“Just talk. Please talk, please let us know. Please give us closure,” said Millar.
In 2020, 15 murders were committed in Canton. Three of them remain unsolved, including Pleasant’s and Bushe’s.
There have been 8 murders thus far in 2021, with another three cases unsolved.
Jade Jarvis is a reporter at News 5 Cleveland. Follow her on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
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