Robbery suspected as motive in homicide

Lisa Fizer said her husband, Anthony Fizer, called her on his way home to their Winfield Road residence Monday night and asked her to bring some food. 

Ten minutes later, when she arrived at the house at 523 Winfield Rd., she learned that her husband had been shot in front of the house during what police believe was a robbery attempt, and had already been taken to the hospital.

"I just got off the phone with him 10 minutes before," Mrs. Fizer, 42, said Tuesday. "When I came around the corner, I saw police here. An ambulance had taken him to the hospital already."

Mr. Fizer died just after 8 p.m. Monday at Mercy St. Vincent Hospital after being shot twice. Dr. Cynthia Beisser, a Lucas County deputy coroner, said he was shot once in the face and once in the right leg at the Winfield address, which is near Cherry Street and North Detroit Avenue. The death has been ruled a homicide.

"We believe that the motive was robbery, at this point," Toledo police Sgt. Joe Heffernan said.

Sergeant Heffernan said the victim pulled up in his car, parked it in the driveway, and headed for his front porch, at which time two men approached him. A struggle ensued, during which time the victim was shot, the sergeant said.

Police had not recovered the murder weapon, the police spokesman said. He did not say whether police had found evidence at the scene.

Officers responding to a report of shots fired arrived about 7:40 p.m. and found the victim on the sidewalk in front of the residence. Witnesses said two men fled the scene on foot.

Police have no suspects, the sergeant said.

Isaac Carpenter, 65, of Toledo, the victim's uncle, said Mr. Fizer was a self-employed construction worker who also installed car radios and alarm systems.

"It's a tragedy," Mr. Carpenter said. "He was my favorite nephew. And he had skills."

Mrs. Fizer said her late husband went into the construction business after his honorable discharge from the U.S. Navy. A gunner's mate, he served from 1988 to 1992 and was a veteran of the first Gulf War, she said.

Mrs. Fizer is also a Navy veteran who served as a surgical technician from 1988 to 2008. The pair met in Hawaii while serving and were married in 1993.

"He was outgoing, loved life," Mrs. Fizer said. "He always had to be doing something. When he wasn't working, he was playing video games."

"And he loved the kids. He always put his family first," she went on to say. The couple have four kids, ages 18, 14, 10, and 6.

A native of Toledo, Mr. Fizer is a high school graduate who attended both Scott High School and Woodward High School. He served as sergeant-at-arms at the Get Little Click motorcycle club in Toledo.

Funeral arrangements had not been made, Mrs. Fizer said.

The homicide is the 46th in metro Toledo this year and the 34th inside the city.