The end of the violent weekend came when police found a man reported missing dead in the backseat of a Jeep. The body of Terrance Wallace was found partially covered and he was pronounced dead at the scene

By JAMES W. WADE III

Staff reporter

The crime rate is out of control in the city with six murders occurring in the city within 36 hours. The Cleveland Police have urged the community to help them solve the weekend homicides by anonymously coming forward and tell them what they saw.

Police and the FBI are looking for any leads in connection to the weekend murders of Trevon Brown, 19, and Cedric Tate, 20, in an abandoned home on Dove Avenue. They're also looking for information that will lead them to the person who killed Antwon Shannon, 28, at Tavo bar Sunday.

At a media debriefing, Cleveland Police Chief Michael McGrath address the crimes. "It's unfortunate these tragedies took place this weekend. They were unrelated," said Chief McGrath. "We had five murders before this weekend, which was lower than last year. Now, we have 11."

According to police, the vacant home where Brown and Tate were found dead went into foreclosure only four weeks ago. Authorities said the heat and electricity was still on and people were using it as a gambling house. Neighbors told authorities they saw two people running down the street shortly after gunshots were heard. Two people were rounded up by police after a short foot chase. They were interviewed, but not charged.

Antwon Shannon was found shot in the stomach in the bathroom at Tavo bar on Sunday. Police said there were 150 to 200 people inside the bar when a fight between Shannon and an unknown man broke out. Authorities are monitoring surveillance, trying to identify who Shannon was fighting with.

"We'd like to talk to witnesses. Somebody saw something," McGrath said, who urged those who know anything about any murder in the city to come forward and help police solve the crimes.

[The suspect] knew him and that led to the man being murdered," explained McGrath.

In 2010, Cleveland police reported 72 murders in the city; In 2011, they reported 75. Chief McGrath said from 2006-2011, homicides declined in the city by 9.2 percent.

"The streets of Cleveland are safe," McGrath said. "But anytime you have one homicide, it's too many."

A wanted man kidnapped his estranged girlfriend at gunpoint along with her 1-year-old she was pushing in a stroller, Cleveland police said Sunday, and all three were found shot to death hours later in the murder suicide.

Police said the couple had dated for about two months and that the woman, Latasha Jackson, 19, was trying to end the relationship. Jackson and her 1-year-old daughter, Chaniya Wynn, were killed by the woman's estranged boyfriend, Thomas Lorde. Police said their bodies were found in a vacant garage on Union Avenue. Authorities said Lorde and Jackson talked for several minutes the morning she and her daughter were murdered. An Amber Alert was issued, and the woman's brother called police twice, reporting his sister and niece were abducted.

"We responded in a timely manner," said McGrath. A neighborhood search led police to the bodies. Lorde took his own life after killing Jackson and Wynn.

The end of the violent weekend came when police found a man reported missing dead in the backseat of a Jeep. The body of Terrance Wallace was found partially covered and he was pronounced dead at the scene. The Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner's Office has ruled his death a homicide, but hasn't revealed how he died.

An arrest has been made in connection to the west side murder. Wallace was reported missing on Feb. 15, then found dead in the back of a Jeep on Feb. 19. The man arrested is expected to be charged with murder soon.