William “Andy” Thompson

OBITUARY

William “Andy” Thompson, 80, of Painesville, passed away Sunday, Oct. 13, 2024, at David Simpson Hospice House in Cleveland. Born Oct. 26, 1943, in Chicago, Ill., Andy had lived in Painesville for 48 years. Andy loved his family, grandkids and all sports, especially the Guardians. Andy was a retired Mentor High School Social Studies teacher, where he had a passion for making a difference in the classroom and on the baseball field. He was a dedicated coach at the high school, working as the Head Baseball coach for 22 years and the Assistant Football coach for 10 years. In 2003, Andy was inducted into the Mentor Sports Hall of Fame. He proudly served in the U.S. Air Force and was a member of Painesville Elks Lodge #549 for approximately 35 years. He was the loving father of Scott J. Thompson and Lyndsay A. (John) Clair; cherished grandfather of Caiden and Cameryn; brother of Jim (Shirley) Thompson and Bettie Ann Sunderland; partner of Dolores Luckay; former husband, Carole Thompson; and uncle of Katherine, Sandra, Lisa and Carla. Andy was preceded in death by his son, Marc A. Thompson; and parents, Lewis E. and Opal (nee Kennedy) Thompson. Family will receive friends from 4 to 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 17, at McMahon-Coyne-Vitantonio Funeral Home, 6330 Center St. (Rt. 615, N. of Rt. 2), in Mentor, with a Celebration of Life Service at 6:30 p.m. Rev. Jerry Kalb from Painesville United Methodist Church will officiate. Burial at Riverside Cemetery in Painesville will be at a later date. Donations in Andy’s name may be made to University Hospitals Seidman Cancer Center, P.O. Box 94554, Cleveland, OH 44101-4554. To leave condolences for the family or to order flowers, visit www.MCVfuneralhomes.com.

CLEVELAND, Ohio (WOIO) – Brittany Barksdale, the Cleveland woman convicted of killing her nephew in 2022, has been recently posting to social media using the #freeme, garnering a lot of comments online.

Barksdale is convicted of reckless homicide after she shot her 10-year-old nephew Cayden Williams in the head. Police say that she was handling a firearm in June 2022 when she shot through the ceiling. The bullet ricocheted off a mirror and struck Cayden. He later died at the hospital.

Barksdale began serving the reduced 2.5 year sentence in October 2023. Monday, social media posts began appearing on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Under a now-private account, Barksdale was seen posting images like the one below, using the hashtag #freeme.

19 News became aware of the social media posts following increased traffic to our previous stories.

The Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections responded to 19 News’ request for comment on this saying:

“We are investigating this matter, but we preliminarily suspect these photos were sent to friends or family from the ViaPath tablet and posted on social media by an outside individual”.

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CLEVELAND, OH (WOIO) – The jury trial for a 24-year-old man accused in the 2019 murder of a Cleveland Clinic employee, is scheduled to begin Tuesday in front of Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas Judge Nancy Margaret Russo.

Sheila Wallace, 58, was shot and killed while walking her dog in McGowan Park in Cleveland’s Bellaire-Puritas neighborhood on Jan. 17, 2019.

In May 2023, DaJuan Evans, who was 18 at the time of the murder, was indicted by a Cuyahoga County Grand Jury on the charges of aggravated murder, murder and felonious assault.

“Sheila Wallace was not and will not be forgotten. Her horrendous murder shook the Bellaire-Puritas community to the core and my thoughts and prayers remain with the victim’s family,” said Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Michael O’Malley in a previous statement.

According to O’Malley, Evans and another man were also walking in the park and when their paths crossed, Evans stopped, turned around and fired four shots.

One shot struck Wallace in the head, one shot struck her in the chest, and the two additional shots missed the victim, said O’Malley.

Residents found Wallace’s body shortly after the shooting and called police. Wallace was pronounced dead at the scene.

O’Malley said on April 3, 2019, there was an unrelated shooting near West 48th Street and Storer Avenue in Cleveland and that gun was later linked through a National Integrated Ballistic Information Network (NIBIN) to the McGowan Park murder.

According to O’Malley, DNA evidence, a NIBIN lead, witness testimony, and video evidence all linked Evans to the crime.

Wallace worked as a medical administrative assistant at the Cleveland Clinic.