A 21-year-old Canton woman was found dead of a gunshot wound to the head inside a home on the 600 block of 11th Street NE Tuesday afternoon, and police have arrested an 18-year-old man on charges of reckless homicide and tampering with evidence in connection with her death. Dalaysia Brewton died at the scene despite life-saving efforts from Canton Fire paramedics, and children were reportedly inside the home when the shooting happened.
According to Cleveland.com, Canton police responded to a 911 call at 2:35 p.m. Tuesday reporting a shooting at the address. Officers arrived to find Brewton with a gunshot wound to the head, and she was pronounced dead at the scene. Police, citing Chief John Gabbard, said officers located the suspect, 18-year-old Javon M. Ogden, nearby and took him into custody without incident.
The account of what happened inside the home comes from a mobile mechanic who told police he was working on a vehicle in the garage when he heard a popping noise. Per the outlet's report, the mechanic said he then found Brewton lying on the kitchen floor, and that Ogden told him the gun had fallen and gone off, striking Brewton in the head. The mechanic also told police the two had not been in an altercation before he heard the noise. Police reported no other injuries from the incident.
Charges Carry Up to Three Years Each
Ogden faces two third-degree felony charges: reckless homicide and tampering with evidence. Under Ohio Revised Code § 2903.041, reckless homicide is defined as recklessly causing another person's death, and a third-degree felony conviction carries a prison term of 9 to 36 months. Tampering with evidence, covered under Ohio Revised Code § 2921.12, applies when someone alters, conceals, or removes physical evidence knowing an investigation is underway or imminent, according to legal analysis of the statute; a conviction on that count also carries a potential 9 to 36 months behind bars along with fines of up to $10,000, per Godinsky Law.
Jail records reviewed by Recently Booked show Ogden, listed as Javon Montez Ogden, was booked into the Stark County jail on Tuesday at 1:45 p.m. He is scheduled to appear in Canton Municipal Court for an initial arraignment hearing Thursday at 8:30 a.m., according to WKYC 3News. It remains unclear what specific actions prompted the tampering charge, and whether additional charges could follow once the case moves from municipal court to a Stark County grand jury.
Residential Shootings Remain a Persistent Problem
The case adds to a troubling pattern of fatal shootings inside Canton homes. Figures from the Stark County Prosecutor's Office show that five of the eight homicides recorded in Canton during 2025 were domestic violence-related, per Ideastream Public Media. State violent crime data compiled under the Ohio Incident-Based Reporting System has also placed Canton alongside Cleveland, Dayton, and Springfield among the state's municipalities with the highest per-capita rates of violent crime in 2025.
This is not the first time Canton police have filed reckless homicide charges tied to a firearm death inside a home. In January, Canton police arrested a 15-year-old on the same charge after he allegedly fatally shot his 12-year-old brother inside a local home. Just weeks before Brewton's death, Canton police also arrested a man accused of firing a gun inside a home that wounded his wife while children fled to get help, and separately sought a wanted 19-year-old with help from the U.S. Marshals fugitive task force in a car shooting case.
Evidence Now Heads to Crime Lab
Any physical or firearm evidence recovered in the case would typically be submitted for forensic analysis to the Canton/Stark County Crime Laboratory, a regional facility operated jointly under the police chief and the Stark County Council of Governments that processes evidence for law enforcement agencies across the county. How that evidence factors into the tampering charge against Ogden has not been detailed publicly.
Stark County courts have shown a willingness to pursue lengthy sentences in fatal shootings inside Canton residences. In January, the Stark County Common Pleas Court sentenced three young men to life in prison with parole eligibility after 38 years for a 2023 drive-by shooting that killed a man inside his own home. Whether Ogden's case results in additional charges beyond reckless homicide and evidence tampering will depend on the grand jury review that follows his Thursday arraignment.
