On the morning of March 10, 2023, the body of Domingo Castillo-Reyes, a 35-year-old man from Honduras who lived in Youngstown, Ohio, was found in a ditch in Copley. He had been bound, gagged, and shot in the head. The discovery was part of a brutal triple homicide that spanned two communities in Summit County. About 20 minutes earlier, authorities had found the bodies of two other Youngstown men, 25-year-old Inmer Reyes and 31-year-old Victor Varela-Rodriguez, in a wooded area in nearby Akron.
They had been killed in the same manner.
The investigation began to unfold even before the victims were found. Around 7 a.m. that morning, Copley police encountered a man walking in the rain who spoke little English. He told officers he had been abandoned by friends, and they gave him a ride to a local shelter. After the bodies were discovered, police returned to the shelter and brought the man, Oscar Meija-Gomez, in for questioning. He revealed a harrowing story: he was a fourth victim who had survived. He explained that he and his three friends, all roofers, were kidnapped from their Youngstown home the previous day by two masked gunmen. The captors drove them to Summit County, where all four were shot. Meija-Gomez survived by playing dead.
Within 24 hours, police arrested 58-year-old Elias Gudino of Copley Township and charged him in connection with the crimes. Investigators learned that Gudino and an unknown accomplice had kidnapped the four men from their home. Prosecutors argued the motive was personal, stemming from Gudino’s jealousy over his wife having left him for one of the victims' roommates. The kidnappers had reportedly tried to lure this roommate to the house, but he arrived with a child, and they did not proceed.
Gudino was indicted on 18 charges, including aggravated murder, attempted murder, and kidnapping. During his trial, the defense presented an affirmative defense, arguing that Gudino was not a mastermind but a "fifth hostage" who was acting under duress from a Mexican drug cartel. Gudino had a previous federal conviction for leading a drug trafficking organization. The prosecution’s key witness was the survivor, Oscar Meija-Gomez, who took the stand and identified Gudino as one of the gunmen who shot him and killed his friends.
In October 2024, a Summit County jury found Elias Gudino guilty on multiple counts, including aggravated murder, attempted murder, and four counts of kidnapping for his role in the deaths of Domingo Castillo-Reyes, Inmer Reyes, and Victor Varela-Rodriguez. Following the verdict, Gudino was awaiting a sentencing hearing scheduled for December 2024.
