Eric J. Shannon, a 36-year-old Black man known for being silly and always cracking jokes, was a graduate of Warren G. Harding High School in his hometown of Warren, Ohio. His life was cut short in a shooting at his home on the evening of Sunday, September 24, 2023.
Around 8 p.m. that night, Warren police were dispatched to the 1100 block of McMyler Street NW after receiving reports of shots fired. They arrived to find Eric Shannon on the porch of his apartment.
Paramedics attempted to perform CPR, but Shannon was pronounced dead at the scene. Prosecutors would later state that he had been shot four times. According to neighbors and a dispatch call sheet, Shannon and a neighbor, Rashawn Jordan, had been involved in an altercation that lasted throughout the day.
Warren police detectives investigated the homicide, and their work led them to a suspect several months later. Investigators uncovered social media and email conversations in which Rashawn Jordan, 36, admitted to the shooting. A Trumbull County grand jury indicted Jordan, and he was arrested.
Jordan was initially charged with murder and having weapons under disability. He was arraigned on March 7, 2024, before Trumbull County Common Pleas Judge Ronald Rice, where he pleaded not guilty. Citing Jordan's extensive and violent criminal history, Judge Rice ordered him held without bond.
In May 2024, Jordan accepted a plea agreement. He pleaded guilty to amended charges of involuntary manslaughter with a firearm specification and two counts of having weapons under disability. Prosecutors noted that Jordan was prohibited from carrying firearms due to previous felony convictions.
During the sentencing hearing, Eric Shannon's brother, Rashawn Shannon, addressed the court, speaking of the family's many sleepless nights. "At the end of the day, nobody wins since I can't get my brother back," he said. Jordan apologized to the Shannon family, calling the situation "very senseless" and saying he wished it had never happened. Judge Rice told Jordan that "tragedy is bound to strike when you mix anger, guns and violence." He then sentenced Rashawn Jordan to serve 14 to 19.5 years in prison. The case was closed as of May 2024.
