Trial set for Kettering murder case

UPDATE @ 1:27 p.m. (Dec. 1):

The trial date for Sean Sorrentino, accused of killing Allen Samuels in June, has been set for Jan. 25, 2016, according to court records.

Sorrentino also has a final pretrial hearing scheduled for Jan. 7, 2016.

UPDATE @3:40 p.m. (Jun. 16)

Sean Sorrentino entered a plea of not guilty during his arraignment today. His bond was set at $1 million and he was appointed an attorney.

UPDATE @3 p.m.:

Sean Sorrentino has been indicted for the murder of Allen D. Samuels and on six other charges, Montgomery County Prosecutor Mat Heck Jr. announced Thursday.

He was also indicted on:

• One count of aggravated burglary
• Two counts of murder while committing felonious assault
• Two counts of felonious assault
• One count of burglary
• One count of assault

Sorrentino is currently being held in the Montgomery County jail on $500,000 bond. He is scheduled to be arraigned on June 16.

UPDATE @ 4:25 p.m. June 4

The suspect in the fatal stabbing on Westcliff Court now is charged with murder and other felonies.

Sean Sorrentino, 31, is charged with two counts of murder, three counts of felonious assault and one count of burglary, according to Greg Flannagan, spokesman for the Montgomery County Prosecutor’s Office.

Sorrentino is to be arraigned in Kettering Municipal Court as soon as Friday and his case will be presented to a grand jury to decide whether he should be indicted. He remains held in lieu of $500,000 bond in the Montgomery County Jail, according to online jail records.

He is accused of fatally stabbing Allen D. Samuels, 37, at the supportive housing complex in the 1200 block of Westcliff Court, where both were residents.

FIRST REPORT

The city’s first homicide investigation this year involves two tenants of a permanent supportive housing complex.

Kettering police responded to the 11-unit complex in the 1200 block of Westcliff Court about 7:15 p.m. Tuesday after receiving two separate reports, including a disturbance behind an apartment building on neighboring Southdale Drive and a stabbing at the complex on Westcliff. Police have said both incidents are related.

Allen D. Samuels, 37, was found deceased in the Westcliff apartment complex suffering from multiple sharp force injuries, according to the Montgomery County Coroner’s Office. Samuels death has been ruled a homicide.

Investigators arrested Sean Sorrentino, 31, at the same complex. He was booked into the Montgomery County Jail on a preliminary charge of murder after he was treated at a hospital for facial injuries.

Samuels and Sorrentino were homeless before moving into the complex, officials said.

“Primarily most of our housing is going to be serving people that have been homeless,” said Debbie Watts Robinson, CEO of Miami Valley Housing Opportunity, the non-profit organization that owns the property on Westcliff Court.

Miami Valley Housing Opportunity owns at least 41 properties in Montgomery County, according to data from the county auditor’s website. The non-profit’s CEO said she is unaware of any issues at the location of Tuesday’s slaying.

“This is the first time we’ve had an incident of this nature,” Watts Robinson said. “We are very disheartened about what happened at our building last night.”

A public records request for dispatch service calls to the Westcliff apartment building since it was acquired by Miami Valley Housing Opportunity in January 2011 was filed with the Kettering Police Department on Wednesday and is still being processed.

David Smith lives on Westcliff, across the street from where the stabbing happened. He said he was never notified that the complex was used to house people who were formerly homeless.

“I’m all for giving somebody a helping hand if they need it,” Smith said, adding that there should be a significant screening process for the residents. “We’ve all been kind of concerned about what’s going on in that building to begin with.”

City of Kettering officials said they don’t have any jurisdiction on the location of multi-unit complexes, like the one on Westcliff, as long as they abide by zoning regulations. Kettering has had a long history of supporting measures that promote fair housing and prevent housing discrimination, officials said.

Aaron Biggs and his 11-year-old daughter moved into a neighboring apartment complex six months ago. Biggs said he’s seen residents involved in fights before and has had enough.

“It’s time to go now. Someone’s dead,” said Biggs, pointing out that the scene of the slaying is about a block from Southdale Elementary School. “You want to protect the kids and the school two blocks away.”

Miami Valley Housing Opportunity receives local, state and federal funding, Watts Robinson said. The CEO said she believes the slaying was an isolated incident and that none of their people “are posing some additional threat to the community.”