Fatal shooting of W. Toledo auto dealer is 1 of 3 in day
7/9/2014
Law enforcement personnel are on the scene of a shooting at a West Toledo auto-sales shop. Ricky Arnaz Layson, 35, made it to surgery at Mercy St. Vincent Medical Center but died.
THE BLADE/KATIE RAUSCH
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Law enforcement personnel are on the scene of a shooting at a West Toledo auto-sales shop. Ricky Arnaz Layson, 35, made it to surgery at Mercy St. Vincent Medical Center but died.
In daylight, near a busy West Toledo intersection, a man with a gun burst into an auto-sales shop and opened fire on a 35-year-old businessman.
When police arrived, Ricky Arnaz Layson was alive, lying on the floor between two desks, struggling to speak on the phone to his brother. Within hours, Mr. Layson, who made it into surgery at Mercy St. Vincent Medical Center, would be dead.
“For what? What did you gain for a life? Please tell me the rate of a life these days. Not just a life — a brother and a father,” said another of Mr. Layson’s brothers, Rayshawn Grier, 29.
Ricky Arnaz Layson
The shooting death of Mr. Layson, the city’s 15th homicide victim this year and second this month, was one of three shootings in the city within an 18-hour span.
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The shooting mayhem started Monday night inside a Nebraska Avenue carryout.
Police said Jerold Evans, 19, went into Howard’s Drive-Thru, 1001 Nebraska Ave., at 11:24 p.m. with a loaded 45-caliber handgun tucked into the waist of his pants. At some point, Mr. Evans allegedly pulled out his gun and threatened his ex-girlfriend who was also inside the store.
The store owner, 71-year-old Bobby Howard, pulled out a gun and fired a single shot at Mr. Evans, who then ran from the store to the 1100 block of Tecumseh Street, where someone called police to report that Mr. Evans was shot in his back with what police called a nonlife-threatening wound. He was taken to Mercy St. Vincent Medical Center for treatment. A hospital spokesman had no information about a patient with that name.
Police did not charge Mr. Howard and did not anticipate doing so, citing self defense. They charged Mr. Evans in Toledo Municipal Court with aggravated menacing and carrying a concealed weapon. As of Tuesday night, Mr. Evans had not been booked into the Lucas County jail.
Mr. Layson was shot 12 hours later, at 11:25 a.m. at his store, R&D Auto Sales, 5010 Lewis Ave. Police released images of a suspect — a man in an oversized, long-sleeved white T-shirt and do-rag armed with a handgun.
Terry Hayes, 48, of 3137 Lagrange St., is charged in Toledo Municipal Court with murder and aggravated robbery in the death. He is scheduled to be arraigned today.
“It’s pathetic. … He’s my brother,” Mr. Grier said. “He was my father figure, and now he’s just another tattoo.”
Mr. Grier said his brother was ambitious. The family “grew up poor. We didn’t have anything,” he said. Opening the auto-sales shop, a venture between Mr. Layson and his brother, was a way out.
“It [the shop] never got any bigger than this, but it was his,” Mr. Grier said. “He didn’t want to be rich, he wanted to be comfortable.”
Police investigate the scene of crash in North Toledo. Police said the victim of an attempted robbery at a fast-food restaurant chased the suspect. The chase ended in a crash and gunfire, police said.
Their mother died seven years ago, Mr. Grier said, and when she did, Mr. Layson “took on more burden than he was supposed to.” Mr. Layson had two young daughters whom he took to and from basketball games and track meets.
“His family was his hobby,” Mr. Grier said.
At about 4:30 p.m., someone tried to rob another person in North Toledo near the McDonald’s restaurant on East Manhattan Boulevard, police said. The shooting ended with the victim chasing the suspect, a crash near Booth and Buckeye, and shots fired. No one was struck, police said.
Contact Taylor Dungjen at tdungjen@theblade.com, or 419-724-6054, or on Twitter @taylordungjen.