Alex Wells

Alex Wells was an outgoing family man, a father of ten children who loved bringing his family together for cookouts and holidays. He enjoyed simple pleasures like going to amusement parks, fishing, and washing his car. By trade, he was a truck driver, working for Schwebel’s and Wonder Bread before starting his own business hauling gasoline for GetGo. His children remember his advice and his presence. One of his children recalled a final, happy memory of having dinner with their father a few months before his death, singing along to a Jaheim song in the car on a sunny day. Alex L.V. Wells, a 46-year-old Black man, was also a man who lived a life that included crime, a world he warned his children against. As one of his children later said, "The only thing he knew was drugs... once he was in too deep, there was no way out."

On Christmas Day 2011, Alex spent time delivering gifts to several of his children's homes. Later, he and his 32-year-old girlfriend, Leanne Rosian, went to a hotel in Cuyahoga Falls. He was taking her home when he received a phone call and told her he needed to make an unscheduled stop at his house on Hardesty Boulevard in West Akron. They arrived at about 11:15 p.m., and she waited in the car while he went inside. As Alex was coming back out of the house, two men wearing black clothing and ski masks emerged from behind the garage. Both were armed. They ambushed the couple in the driveway, ordering them to get on the ground. One assailant held a gun on Alex and demanded the alarm passcode for the house. The other man pistol-whipped and kicked Rosian, trying to bind her with zip ties.

Seeing a chance to escape, Rosian ran. A bullet struck her in the shoulder, but she kept running as several more shots rang out behind her. She survived her injuries. Alex Wells was not as fortunate. He was shot ten times in the head and torso and was pronounced dead in his driveway just after 11:30 p.m. Police determined the shots came from two different guns. The home's alarm was triggered, suggesting the attackers may have tried to get inside, but investigators said nothing appeared to have been stolen. Inside the house, police discovered a .45-caliber handgun and more than 26 pounds of marijuana.

The Akron Police Department launched an investigation into what became the city's 25th homicide of the year. The killing was one of eight to occur in a three-week period, an unusually violent span for the city. Detectives believe the motive was a robbery for the drugs in the house that went wrong. Key questions for investigators are who knew Alex had a large quantity of drugs at his home and, crucially, who knew he would be making an unexpected stop there late on a dark Christmas night. The ambush in the rear driveway suggests the attackers were waiting for him, pointing to the possibility that someone in his close circle was involved.

In the years since the murder, Alex's family has held on to hope for justice. His mother, Barbara Wells, has been a vocal advocate, organizing vigils and memorials to keep his case in the public eye. "I will never give up," she said in 2014. "I will not die until this is solved. I can't rest." Alex's brother, Calvin, has also pleaded for someone to break the "code of silence on the streets." The family has held memorial services on Alex's birthday, September 4th, to remind the community that his killers remain free. One of his children, who has since left Akron and built a successful life, was motivated by their father's death to avoid the life he had warned against.

As of May 2024, more than twelve years after the killing, the case remains unsolved, with no suspects publicly identified and no arrests made. Akron police detectives believe the case is solvable, noting that with two assailants, it is likely someone has information. Lacking DNA evidence, a tip from the public is the most probable path to a resolution. Alex Wells is buried in an unmarked grave in Akron's Glendale Cemetery, though his family plans to place a headstone there.

The Akron Police Department continues to seek information about the murders of Alex Wells. Anyone with information is asked to contact the Detective Bureau at 330-375-2490.