2 shooting deaths snaps Dayton’s run of no homicides

Two people were killed by gunfire in Dayton on Saturday, snapping the city’s 79-day streak without a homicide.

The two and a half months without a murder was the longest stretch in the city in more than 13 years. Last week the Dayton Daily News reported that all violent crime in the city was down 7 percent from last year through the first eight months of 2013.

At 1 a.m. Saturday, 41-year-old Johnny C. Talley was killed with his own gun during a scuffle on Cherry Drive.

Dayton Police Sgt. Richard Blommel said Talley and several others were drinking that evening at a family gathering on Cherry before heading down the street to play cards. An argument began between Talley and a longtime friend at which time Talley retrieved the gun from his home.

“The initial investigation has revealed that there was some sort of struggle prior to the gun discharging,” Blommel said.

Police are interviewing numerous witnesses to determine if any charges are appropriate against the other man involved in the altercation.

Just before noon on Saturday, police were dispatched to the 4700 block of Germantown Pike where 19-year-old Martell D. Gray was found shot to death.

Two other men, 22-year-old Shamarr Bodine and 18-year-old Robert Maclin, were also shot near the Whitney Young Estates apartment complex. Their injuries were not life-threatening.

Police said they did not have any suspects in that shooting as of Monday.

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