Anti-violence activist shot dead in Youngstown | News, Sports, Jobs

Staff photo, 2022 William “Shimmie” Miller

YOUNGSTOWN – A local mentor and activist, William “Shimmie” Miller, who turned his life around after two decades in prison to help children in the community, was the victim of a fatal shooting Wednesday night, police said.

The Mahoning County Coroner’s Office on Thursday identified Miller, a South Side native, as the man police found shot to death in a vehicle in the 900 block of Steel Street near Salt Springs Road.

The police did not provide any further information about the background to the shooting.

Since his release from prison in 2019, Miller has become a respected figure in the community, with many friends and family members praising him on social media as a source of hope for youth.

Miller founded the RESPECT basketball league in Youngstown, which offered sports as well as job placement, life skills and educational training.

When interviewed by The Vindicator about the league in 2022, Miller said it gives young men and women a chance to get to know and respect each other.

Miller was a member of the National Association of Blacks in Criminal Justice, an association of individuals committed to achieving equal justice for African Americans and minorities in the criminal justice system.

Miller’s killing was the 11th homicide in the city this year and the third since Sunday.

The violence began earlier this week when an 18-year-old woman named Te’nya McKinley was shot and killed during a car meet on Glenwood Avenue near Sherwood Avenue on Sunday night.

A Youngstown Police press release states that despite “dozens of vehicles and people attending these car meets,” officers say no one has come forward with any information about the murder, even though there were “numerous” witnesses to the shooting.

Just two days later, 19-year-old Zariyan Dothard was shot and killed in the 500 block of East Judson Avenue on the city’s south side. A juvenile suspect, Lyndale Wilkins Jr., 17, was betrayed by his family “at the same time,” according to Youngstown police.

Wilkins appeared in Mahoning County Juvenile Court before Judge Karen Romano Melone on Thursday and remains in custody at the Martin P. Joyce Juvenile Justice Center.

Each homicide case is investigated by the Mahoning County Coroner’s Office and the Youngstown Police Department.

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