A 34-year-old man has been indicted for the murders of four people found dead in an abandoned home in Cleveland in September of 2019.
Terrell Silver, 34, was indicted by a Cuyahoga County grand jury on 15 counts of aggravated murder, one count of aggravated burglary, one count of aggravated robbery, one count of having weapons under disability and one count of tampering with evidence, according to court documents.
Sometime between Sept. 7 and Sept. 21, 2019, Silver is accused of approaching the four victims — two men and two women between the ages of 18 and 23 — inside a residence near East 144th Street and Kinsman Road in Cleveland, where they were staying at the time, according to a news release from the Cuyahoga County Prosecutor’s Office.
The victims would later be identified by officials as 19-year-old Aiyanna Quitman, 18-year-old Jazmyne Lawson, 23-year-old Christopher Monroe and 20-year-old Dejuan Willis. It was later discovered that Lawson was five-and-a-half months pregnant.
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Silver allegedly shot all four people multiple times as they were lying down on two mattresses on the floor, the release states. He then fled the scene.
Neighbors told News 5 in 2019 that the vacant house had been used for drug activity in the past.
The decomposed bodies of all four victims were discovered by Cleveland Police on Sept. 21, 2019.
Back in 2019, Reverend Jimmy Gates of Missionary Baptist Church said he found it suspicious that police were not called to the home before September 21.
“The aroma is certainly in the atmosphere of death on this street,” Gates said to News 5 days after the discovery. “And I just find it absolutely amazing that people could not smell this scent walking up and down this street.”
Andre Wood's family used to own that property, and News 5 spoke to him as he drove by the house shortly after the discovery of the bodies. He said he was heartbroken to hear about what occurred in his childhood home.
“My grandmother, grandfather, the Johnsons, the Woods - all of us grew up in the house. My mother and father,” Wood said. “I was hoping it wasn't this house, but when they said the 3600 block of 144th, I had to ride by and see, and when I seen the balloons I said, ‘Aww, man.’"
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The investigation was conducted by the Cleveland Homicide Initiative, a group composed of various other law enforcement agencies. Investigators used information initially gathered and other resources, including DNA and gun tool mark evidence, to link Silver to the crime, the news release states.
A gun was found in the abandoned home, but police had not identified a suspect or person of interest in the case until now, leaving the family and friends of the deceased with unanswered questions for years.
“Who did it? We’re trying to figure out who did it. Somebody around here knows who did it," Monroe's former girlfriend Sierra Hayes said to News 5 in an interview in 2019. "They just don’t want to come up and tell no one. I just really want to know what really happened. What made them do this? Why would someone go in there and shoot them? For what?”
At the time, Hayes said the most difficult part was trying to tell their young son, Pierre, that his father was gone.
“All I can say was, ‘Pierre, your dad is gone.’ That’s all I could say: your dad is gone,” Hayes said. “He just stopped, looked, blanked out and said, ‘my daddy not gone.’"
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The indictment against Silver alleges he committed the murders while attempting or committing a theft.
One of Silver’s aggravated murder charges is for causing the unlawful termination of Lawson’s pregnancy, the indictment shows.
“Today’s indictment demonstrates that victims are not forgotten. Law enforcement continues to investigate and search for those responsible who commit these violent crimes that are destroying lives and adversely impacting our community. My thoughts and prayers are with the families of these victims as we begin seeking justice for this horrendous crime,” said Prosecutor O’Malley. “Today’s indictment is the direct result of the hard work and dedication of law enforcement and I want to personally thank the members of the Cleveland Homicide Initiative, which includes the Cleveland Division of Police Homicide Unit, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Ohio Attorney General’s Bureau of Criminal Investigation. I would also like to thank the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives and the Cuyahoga County Forensic Science Lab.”
Silver will be arraigned at the Cuyahoga County Justice Center at a later date.
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