Najaye Marquis NaJ Owens, 19, was found fatally shot inside a garage in the 2100 block of Elm Street in Toledo in the late hours of May 5, 2024. Officers discovered Owens with gunshot wounds to the head and chest; he was pronounced dead at the scene. The shooting occurred during a weekend that included multiple shootings in the city.

A 25-year-old man, Treshaun Whitlock, was arrested the day after the killing and later indicted on two counts of murder, two counts of felonious assault, and one count of having weapons while under disability. At a February 2025 trial prosecutors presented testimony from an inmate who said Whitlock confessed to trying to take a handgun from Owens and that the disarm attempt failed, resulting in the fatal shooting. Forensic testimony was offered that one chest wound was fired from a distance inconsistent with self-infliction.

The defense argued there was no struggle, suggested Owens may have accidentally shot himself in the head and that a second discharge after the pistol hit the concrete caused the chest wound. After about two and a half hours of deliberation, the jury acquitted Whitlock of the murder and felonious assault counts but convicted him of having weapons while under disability. Police have not named any other suspects in Owens’s death.

Did anyone at the gathering or neighbors see or hear anything that could clarify how two wounds were sustained?