A 29-year-old Warren man has pleaded guilty to murder in the stabbing death of a 20-year-old Youngstown man on South Feederle Drive SE, closing out what was set to be a trial just weeks away. Nazeer Buckley entered the plea on Oct. 7, and a judge is now scheduled to sentence him on Oct. 21.
Buckley pleaded guilty to one count of murder in the April 19 stabbing death of William Anderson, according to wkbn.com. The plea came as part of an agreement in which the state accepted a reduced murder conviction and dropped two other counts — aggravated murder and felonious assault — that had been part of Buckley's original indictment, the station reported. In exchange, prosecutors are expected to seek a 15-years-to-life prison sentence when Buckley appears before Trumbull County Common Pleas Judge Cynthia Westcott Rice, per the seed reporting from WFMJ.
A 911 Call and a Deadly Confrontation
Police say Anderson was stabbed several times on the 2200 block of South Feederle Drive SE, an incident that began when a woman called 911 to report that her husband had been stabbed by her mother's boyfriend at an apartment on that block, the station's report notes. Anderson was taken to a hospital, where he later died from his injuries, according to the same account. A separate report from wfmj.com identified the victim as William Anderson of Youngstown and placed the stabbing at around 9:30 p.m. on a Sunday night on the 2200 block of South Feederle Drive SE.
Investigators recovered the knife used in the attack, and witnesses identified Buckley as the person who stabbed Anderson during the altercation, according to tribtoday.com. That evidence helped form the basis of the case prosecutors had built before Buckley's guilty plea brought it to a close.
Trial Date Scrapped as Plea Deal Lands
Buckley had been scheduled to go on trial later in October, with jury proceedings set to begin Oct. 19 in Judge Westcott Rice's courtroom. The plea hearing offset that trial date, wkbn.com reported, ending the case before it reached a jury. Buckley is now set for sentencing on Oct. 21, as both tribtoday.com and WFMJ have reported.
A Grim Milestone for Warren
Anderson's death was recorded as Warren's fifth homicide of 2026, according to a separate wkbn.com report on the grieving reaction inside the courtroom. The case stands as one of several violent crimes the city has grappled with this year, underscoring the toll such killings continue to take on Warren families and the broader community.
Under Ohio law, a violation of the state's murder statute, Section 2903.02 of the Ohio Revised Code, makes a person guilty of murder and subject to sentencing under Section 2929.02. For those convicted of or pleading guilty to murder committed on or after Jan. 1, 2008, Ohio law requires courts to sentence under Section 2971.03 when Section 2929.02(B)(2) applies, according to the Ohio Revised Code. Buckley's sentencing on Oct. 21 will determine what prison term he ultimately receives, though the state has indicated it will seek 15 years to life under the terms of the plea agreement.
