Sunday, June 3, 2012

Toledo, OH: Toledo man accused of killing girlfriend is arrested in Cincinnati

A man who reportedly called 911 Thursday morning, claiming he killed his girlfriend who lived on the outskirts of the Old West End, is in the Hamilton County Jail in Cincinnati on a charge of murder from Toledo.

Thomas Ellison, Jr., 24, was arrested by Cincinnati police about 11:15 p.m. Thursday and booked into jail there at 12:40 a.m. today, according to the jail.

Toledo police had suspected he might try to flee to Indiana where he has some connections, Toledo police Sgt. Joe Heffernan said.

Broadcast and online outlets in the Louisville area were reporting Thursday that Toledo police alerted authorities in Jeffersonville, Ind., across the Ohio River from Louisville, that Mr. Ellison might be headed there.

One school district placed its buildings on lockdown after police issued an alert that a murder suspect might pass through Jefferson County, Ind.

RELATED CONTENT: 2012 Blade Homicide Database

Mr. Ellison of Toledo is accused of killing his 21-year-old girlfriend, Jazmon Hoskins, inside the central-city apartment where she lived with her young daughter.

At 10:28 a.m. Thursday, a man claiming to be Mr. Ellison called 911 and told dispatchers he had killed his girlfriend. The address the suspect initially told police was wrong, but dispatchers were able to search records to find an address for relatives of Mr. Ellison on Foraker Drive in South Toledo; family members directed police to Ms. Hoskins' 3122 Parkwood Ave. residence, on the outskirts of the Old West End.

"The operators did a really good job," Sergeant Heffernan said from the scene Thursday as police and detectives fanned out around the house talking to neighbors and family members. "It would have been really easy to say, 'Oh, no one is here.'"

It's unclear how Ms. Hoskins died or where in the house she was found. Police said Ms. Hoskins' daughter was not at home when the woman's body was found; Sergeant Heffernan said the girl was staying with relatives.

Neighbor Sandra Edward said Ms. Hoskins worked two jobs and looked after her daughter; she could not recall where the woman worked.

As police filled the front porch of the duplex where Ms. Hoskins lived upstairs, another neighbor who has lived in the house across the street for 22 years shook her head.

"This is a good block," Ann Strong-Jaynes said. "Nothing ever happens over here."

The body was found at 11:49 a.m.

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