Tramango Roper

A man is found fatally shot inside his home
Tramango Ramone Roper was a 44-year-old Black man who owned a photography business and had studied at Kent State University. According to friends, he was friends with Robin El-Amin, a 54-year-old woman who had trained as a nursing assistant and EMT but appeared to work as a tattoo artist in the Akron, Ohio, area. Their friendship was noted on their respective social media pages.

In the early morning hours of December 12, 2017, both Roper and El-Amin were shot and killed inside a home at 823 Merton Avenue in South Akron. The shootings were believed to have occurred between 3 a.m. and 4 a.m. According to witnesses, four men had been playing cards in the dining room when a fight broke out. During the altercation, shots were fired, and the card players fled the house. Roper and El-Amin were later found deceased in a bed. The Summit County Medical Examiner’s office confirmed their deaths were the result of a double homicide.

The first call to police came not from the Merton Avenue home, but from a woman on nearby Rowe Avenue. She reported to 911 that her daughter’s boyfriend had come to her door seeking help after being in a “tussle.” The man, who was bleeding from his head, said there had been a shooting. When police arrived in the neighborhood, they initially searched the wrong street before following footsteps in the snow and receiving information from a person who flagged them down, which led them to the correct house on Merton Avenue. An officer who entered the home quickly confirmed two fatalities and canceled the call for emergency medical services.

Investigators with the Akron Police Department returned to the home later that morning to continue processing the scene for clues. They also planned to review surveillance video from a gas station near the residence. The violent deaths shocked neighbors, one of whom had lived in the area for six years and told reporters he was scared that something so serious could happen there.

No suspects were immediately identified, and no arrests have been made in the case. In January 2018, Summit County Crime Stoppers announced it was offering a reward for information regarding the double homicide. The case remains unsolved. Anyone with information is asked to contact Summit County Crime Stoppers at 330-434-COPS.