Youngstown, OH: Coroner: Wife Died of Strangulation During Fight with Husband

Police said a fight between a husband and wife ended up with one of them dead.

Youngstown police arrested Daniel Wellington, 55, of Knapp Avenue, on an involuntary manslaughter charge early Friday.

Wellington told police that during an argument around 1 a.m., his wife, Doris Wellington, 44, jumped on top of him while he was in the bed. He told police he grabbed her by the neck to get her off of him, and the two rolled off the bed. He said during the fall, she struck her head on a table.

Police were told by the 911 dispatcher that Daniel Wellington said on the taped line that the two were fighting and he choked her.

When police arrived, they said Daniel Wellington was performing CPR on his wife, but she was pronounced dead at the scene.

A report from the Mahoning County Coroner's Office Friday afternoon states that Doris Wellington died as a result of manual strangulation, and the death was ruled a homicide.

It's not clear whether the charges against Daniel Wellington will change after that ruling.

Daniel was arraigned Friday morning on the involuntary manslaughter charge in Youngstown Municipal Court and is being held on $25,000 bond.

"There was an incident of domestic violence, and that was the the predicate that led to her death," said Youngstown Prosecutor Jay Macejko before the coroner's report was issued. "Officers continue the investigation, but at this time Mr. Wellington is charged with involuntary manslaughter, which means that a death occurred as the result of a commission of a misdemeanor."

Daniel Wellington does not have a prior record.