YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (WKBN) — Bond was set Wednesday at $1 million for a woman arrested Monday for a 2016 homicide.
Judge Carla Baldwin set the bond during the arraignment of Ranee Fitzgerald, 23, of Youngstown, who is charged with complicity to aggravated murder for the March 15, 2016, shooting death of Omar Croom.
Fitzgerald, through attorney Walter Richfield, has asked for house arrest because she is the midst of a high-risk pregnancy.
Judge Baldwin denied the request, saying because of the seriousness of the charge and the fact the case has been pending for so long, the public safety is better served by the high bond.
However, Judge Baldwin told Fitzgerald to tell her attorney of her condition so he can file any appropriate motions to get her adequate care.
She is expected to have a preliminary hearing Feb. 22.
Fitzgerald was arrested Tuesday by members of the U.S. Marshals Northern Ohio Fugitive Task Force.
Reports said marshals went to a home in the single digit block of South Glenellen Avenue on the West Side to arrest Fitzgerald but when they arrived, no one would answer their knocks at the door.
Marshals managed to open the front door and yelled for Fitzgerald but were told by people inside she was not there. They searched the house and underneath a bed on the second floor they found a .22-caliber handgun on top of two freezer bags filled with marijuana, reports said.
Reports said marshals received a call from Fitzgerald’s mother, who said she was on her way to the home with her daughter, but she instead stopped at the end of the block, got out of the car she was in and walked to the house.
When asked what kind of car she was in, reports said the mother told marshals she did not know.
Reports did not indicate how or when Fitzgerald was found but the gun and marijuana were taken and additional charges could be filed, reports said.
Croom was found about 1:30 a.m. March 16, 2016, shot to death outside an SUV at Oak Street Extension and Early Road on the East Side.
Fitzgerald was a suspect on but she was not able to be charged until recently.