Bond set at $1M for suspect in strangling death of Toledo woman

5/15/2014

Denzil Wells II

A Toledo man accused of strangling a woman was arraigned today in Toledo Municipal Court.

Denzil Wells II, 40, of 1411 Brooke Park Dr., is charged with murder. His bond was set at $1 million and he is being held in the Lucas County Jail.

Police allege that Mr. Wells killed Nicole Sours, 37, of Toledo, on April 13 at Mr. Wells' Brooke Parke apartment.

RELATED CONTENT: 2014 Blade Homicide Report

Charges against Mr. Wells were filed on Wednesday after results from an autopsy showed that Ms. Sours died of strangulation, said police Sgt. Joe Heffernan.

According to the initial police report on the death, Mr. Wells told police he picked up Ms. Sours from the Pour House, a bar on Bennett Road in West Toledo, at 3 a.m. The two went back to his home and eventually went to bed. At 4:30 a.m., Mr. Wells reportedly told police Ms. Sours was asleep and snoring. When Mr. Wells woke up at noon, he said he found Ms. Sours cold to the touch and purple, Sergeant Heffernan said. He called 911; when police arrived, Ms. Sours was “tucked in,” Sergeant Heffernan said. There were no obvious signs of trauma.

Investigators collected evidence and conducted interviews, but did not file charges until the death was ruled a homicide by the Lucas County Coroner's Office.

Mr. Wells was picked up by police on Wednesday at Hospice in Sylvania where he was visiting a resident, Sergeant Heffernan said.

Sergeant Heffernan said investigators “had enough evidence to charge him [Mr. Wells] with the homicide.”

A motive was not clear.