Eric Hopkins, a 27-year-old man, was shot and killed in Toledo, Ohio, on the night of June 18, 2021. Police responded to a report of a person shot just before midnight and found Hopkins in the 2900 block of Rockwood Place in the city's Old West End. He had suffered a single gunshot wound to the head and was pronounced dead at the scene.
Officers arriving at the location found Tytiana Turner, Hopkins’s 25-year-old cousin, who was arrested in connection with his death.
According to court documents, Turner admitted to shooting Hopkins once. She was initially charged with murder and booked into the Lucas County jail.
As the case proceeded, more details about the night emerged. Turner’s defense attorney stated that she and Hopkins were very close, having grown up together and attended the same school. On the night of the shooting, they were out drinking with friends. The attorney explained that Turner carried a gun for protection from an abusive partner but was unfamiliar with the weapon, had never fired it, and did not know where its safety was. A witness told prosecutors that the cousins were not arguing but were drunk. The defense claimed Turner was handing the gun to Hopkins when it accidentally discharged.
On February 15, 2022, Tytiana Turner entered an Alford plea to first-degree felony involuntary manslaughter with a firearm specification, meaning she did not admit guilt but acknowledged that prosecutors had enough evidence for a conviction. In court, a tearful Turner apologized to her family. “I relive the situation every night and I’m just sorry,” she said. The victim’s father, Eric Hopkins, Sr., also spoke, referring to his late son as his best friend.
On February 28, 2022, a Lucas County judge sentenced Tytiana Turner to serve between six and eight and a half years in prison, concluding the case.
