Sylvania Twp. records its 1st homicide of '12

Police Friday continued to try to piece together a motive and look for a suspect or suspects in the death of a Sylvania Township man gunned down at his home Thursday night.

Darryl Stipes, 60, was shot once in the chest and twice in the pelvis, said Lucas County Deputy Coroner Dr. Cynthia Beisser.

There was no other sign of struggle, she said.

Toledo Area Homicide Database: Click here

Mr. Stipes is the first homicide victim in Sylvania Township this year; 21 homicides have occurred in the Toledo metropolitan area.

"This is not a random act," Sylvania Township Chief Robert Boehme said, adding, "I don't want to say he was a target."

Police said that Mr. Stipes called police at 10:24 p.m. and reported that he was shot by two men. When police arrived, they found the victim sitting on his front porch at 3322 Waldmar Rd., said Chief Boehme.

The victim was pronounced dead Thursday night at Toledo Hospital.

Robert Boehme, Sylvania Township Chief. Enlarge

Mr. Stipes had been physically assaulted before, Chief Boehme said, but he declined to discuss specifics and did not know if the prior assaults, which were "within the past year," could be related to his death.

The chief added that, without a suspect, it's unclear whether Mr. Stipes knew the gunman or gunmen either directly or indirectly.

"We're working on some things," the chief said. "We have some ideas [on the motive and suspects]."

The chief said Mr. Stipes was shot inside the house and that multiple shots were fired. But he declined to comment on how many. He also declined to say whether anyone else was at Mr. Stipes' home at the time of the attack.

During the altercation, one of Mr. Stipes two Rottweiler dogs was shot, but it is expected to survive. The dogs were taken by the Lucas County Dog Warden's Office and most likely will be taken in by family members, office officials said.

On Friday, a township officer sat in a cruiser in front of the house, preserving the crime scene, and Chief Boehme talked to a neighbor in a nearby driveway. The street, other than for a curious few who stopped to stare at the small white house, was quiet.

Mr. Stipes, a drummer since the late 1970s, played in a number of local bands and performed in cities across the country, said Amjad Doumani, who said he knew the victim for only a few months.

Mr. Doumani, who owns Third Space/B-Bop Records in downtown Toledo, said he met the victim in April when Mr. Stipes started attending Occupy Toledo meetings.

Darryl Stipes. Enlarge

The victim, along with fellow local musician Josh Boyd, wrote a song for the movement, "Occupy the Streets," and they wanted to present it to the larger movement. Mr. Boyd could not be reached for comment.

"Your money's real tight; people want their rights. Try to have a say; You get Maced anyway," a bluesy voice wails in the nearly 4-minute song. It was unclear who was singing the song.

Mr. Stipes was "dedicated" and put in "a lot of hard work" to organize an Occupy Mayday concert in Toledo that featured 10 bands last month, Mr. Doumani said.

"He was selfless and believed in the cause," he said. "He believed in waking people up to the system we live under.

" ... I'm very saddened that he died," Mr. Doumani said.

Asked Friday whether there was any connection between Mr. Stipes' death and his involvement in Occupy Toledo, Chief Boehme said "we can't rule anything out at this point." Police have not named any suspects in the ongoing investigation and ask that anyone with information about the case call police at 419-882-2055.

Contact Taylor Dungjen at: tdungjen@theblade.com, 419-724-6054, or on Twitter @tdungjen_Blade.