Police say a 28-year-old man was arrested after the attack near Firestone Stadium and is now facing aggravated murder charges.
AKRON, OH — A 47-year-old woman and her 12-year-old son were killed Saturday night after a shooting near West Wilbeth Road sent their vehicle off the street and into a tree, and police say a 28-year-old suspect later surrendered in southeast Ohio.
The killings shocked Akron over the weekend because they left a child and his mother dead in a highly visible stretch of the city near Firestone Stadium and Firestone’s corporate campus. Police identified the victims as Tania Mangual and her son, Jericho L. Mangual. A second young child in the vehicle, a 2-year-old boy, was not hurt. Investigators say Brandon T. Casto was taken into custody less than a day later and booked on two counts of aggravated murder and two counts of felonious assault as detectives continued to sort out motive, the suspect’s relationship to the family and the sequence of events that led to the shooting.
Police said multiple 911 calls came in at about 8:10 p.m. Saturday reporting gunfire near 30 W. Wilbeth Road. One of those calls, according to investigators, came from a 49-year-old woman who said she had fled after being shot at. Officers who reached the area found a vehicle that had crashed into the tree line on Hemlock Street, just south of West Wilbeth Road. The SUV was partially on fire. Inside, officers found Jericho suffering from a gunshot wound. He was pronounced dead at the scene at about 8:34 p.m. His mother, who had been driving, had also been shot and was taken to Cleveland Clinic Akron General Medical Center, where she died at about 8:50 p.m. The 2-year-old boy in the vehicle was taken to Akron Children’s Hospital as a precaution. Lt. Michael Murphy said the early calls and witness information gave detectives their first clear lead in the case.
By Sunday, police had identified Casto as the suspect and said the woman who escaped the gunfire provided details that helped move the investigation forward. Detectives then executed a search warrant at an apartment tied to Casto and reported finding multiple firearms, firearm accessories and a large amount of ammunition. Investigators also said they learned Casto had contacted friends and suggested he was leaving Akron. That information led Akron detectives to coordinate with the Meigs County Sheriff’s Office, more than 100 miles away, where Casto later turned himself in. He was booked into the Southeast Regional Jail in Nelsonville. Police have not publicly described a motive, and they have not said what connection, if any, Casto had to Mangual or her family. They also have not laid out whether the shooting was random, targeted or tied to a dispute that began before the gunfire. Those gaps remain central to the investigation.
The scene itself made the violence hard to ignore. The shooting happened across from Firestone Stadium, a local landmark, and near Firestone’s corporate campus, an area where traffic and neighborhood activity can quickly draw attention when police and fire crews rush in. A television news crew at the scene Saturday night reported seeing a heavily damaged SUV towed away with shattered windows and front-end damage. By the next day, a small memorial had begun to take shape near the crash site, with candles and a white teddy bear left for the victims. Neighbors and friends described Jericho as respectful, smart and kind. A young friend told local reporters he would be “extremely missed.” Another neighbor who said she knew Tania for years described her as dependable and helpful. Those tributes turned the story from a police case into a wider community loss, especially because one of the victims was a middle school-aged child and another young child survived the attack.
City leaders moved quickly to address the public response, even as many details remained unresolved. Akron Police Chief Brian Harding called the shooting “this senseless act of violence” and said detectives worked quickly to develop leads, secure evidence and coordinate with authorities in Meigs County. Harding said the Major Crimes Unit and Crime Scene Unit were handling the case and that investigators would continue working with the Summit County Prosecutor’s Office. Mayor Shammas Malik said he was heartbroken by the deaths and grateful the infant in the vehicle was not physically harmed. He also praised Akron fire and police crews for their initial response and said the city owed it to victims of violent crime “to confront the evils of violence head on.” Those statements signaled that local officials see the case as both a homicide investigation and a fresh test of a city still grappling with repeated public trauma tied to violent crime and police response.
The killings also reached beyond the crash site into the victims’ school community. Barberton City Schools Superintendent Jason Ondrus said the district was saddened by the deaths and would make counseling and support services available for students and staff during spring break. According to the superintendent’s statement, members of the Barberton Community Wellness Collaborative and school staff planned to be available Tuesday, March 31, and Wednesday, April 1, from 10 a.m. to noon at Barberton Middle School. That response offered one of the clearest signs yet of Jericho’s ties to the community and of how quickly the case began affecting children, teachers and neighbors far from the initial police perimeter. Family grief also moved into public view through an online fundraiser created by Tania Mangual’s mother, who said the family was struggling with funeral costs and hoped to bring both victims home to New York for burial.
Legally, the case is still at an early stage. Police announced two aggravated murder counts and two felonious assault counts against Casto, but court records and any future indictment will determine whether additional charges are filed as prosecutors review the evidence. The two felonious assault counts suggest investigators are also accounting for survivors beyond the two homicide victims, including the woman who reported being shot at. Detectives have said the investigation is ongoing, which usually means interviews, forensic testing, weapons analysis and a fuller reconstruction of what happened before the crash are still underway. It is not yet clear when Casto will make his next court appearance in Summit County, whether prosecutors will seek to hold him without bond for a longer period, or when a probable-cause account with more detail will be released in open court. For now, the known timeline ends with a burst of gunfire, a flaming SUV in the tree line and a suspect in custody after a surrender far from Akron.
What remains in Akron is a crime scene that has turned into a place of mourning. Residents near Hemlock Street told reporters they heard a rapid series of shots before seeing the aftermath. One nearby resident, Sonny, recalled hearing “Pop, pop, pop, pop, pop,” then seeing the vehicle aflame as police moved in. Another witness, Jackie Travis, said the SUV was burning underneath and around the engine when officers arrived. Their short accounts filled in the human seconds that police summaries often flatten: the sound of shots, the rush outside, the sight of a vehicle on fire and the realization that a family was inside. For investigators, those moments may help establish sequence and direction. For neighbors, they are already part of the story they will remember — a Saturday night near a familiar stadium that ended with two deaths, one surviving child and a city looking for answers.
As of Monday, March 30, Casto remained jailed in Nelsonville while Akron police and prosecutors prepared the next steps in the case. Investigators have not released a motive, and the next major milestone is expected to come when the case moves into Summit County court and authorities provide a fuller public account of the shootings.
Author note: Last updated March 30, 2026.