HOMICIDE REPORT

Elderly Toledo man fatally shot in the head

Charles Harris Jr., 71 was shot and killed Wednesday in an alley off of Nebraska Avenue.

BLADE/GOOGLE EARTH

Charles Harris Jr., 71 was shot and killed Wednesday in an alley off of Nebraska Avenue.

Gunshot wounds to the head were the cause of death of a 71-year-old man killed in central Toledo on Wednesday in what was apparently a robbery, authorities said.

Charles Harris, Jr., 71, died from two gunshot wounds to the head. The death was ruled a homicide. He was pronounced dead at 7:46 p.m. at the scene, in an alley near Nebraska Avenue, said Dr. Diane Barnett, Lucas County deputy coroner.

“It was hard to tell right away how many times he was shot,” Sgt. Tim Noble said. “The scene was a mess.”

As of noon Thursday, police had made no arrests in what they said was an apparent robbery.

Harris Jr.

“We’ve got leads we are following. And we’ve got evidence we are processing,” Sergeant Noble said.

Police arrived about 7:35 p.m. at an alley south of 1529 Nebraska, after receiving a report of a person shot there. Those who called police did so right after hearing the shots, said Dr. Barnett, who performed the autopsy Thursday morning.

Nearly three hours after police arrived at the scene, investigators remained there to oversee the removal by a tow company of Mr. Harris’ Ford F-150 pickup truck.

Mr. Harris owned a lawn service called Cash and Carry, said his former wife, Yolanda, with whom he lived. He’d finished his work for the day, stopped home to drop off his helper, and told her he was going to his garage on Nebraska, where he stored equipment and tools, she said.

He was widely known as “Chuck A Luck,” she said.

Mr. Harris is the father of Karen Harris, who is an entertainer in the group KGB. She is sometimes called “Lady K.”

This is the fourth homicide in the city of Toledo this year.

HOMICIDE REPORT: Click here to view 2011 Toledo-area killings

Contact Mike Sigov at:
sigov@theblade.com,
or 419-724-6089.