Grand jury indicts man on triple murder charges in Summit County

SUMMIT COUNTY, Ohio (WOIO) – The jury trial of a man accused of kidnapping four victims and fatally shooting three of them in Summit County began Monday morning before Judge Mary Margaret Rowlands.

Elias Gudino was charged with the following charges:

• Six counts of aggravated murder
• Two counts of attempted aggravated murder
• Three murder cases
• One count of attempted murder
• Four counts of kidnapping
• One count of tampering with evidence
• One count of possession of a weapon while under disability

The surviving victim is expected to take the witness stand on Tuesday.

According to police, all four victims were kidnapped from another county and then taken to Summit County, where they were bound, gagged and shot in the head.

The bodies of three victims were discovered on March 10, 2023.

Inmer Reyes, 25, of Youngstown, and Victor Varela-Rodriguez, 31, of Youngstown, were found in Akron in the area of ​​Cordova Avenue near Redbush Road, the Summit County coroner said.

According to the Summit County Medical Examiner, the body of 35-year-old Domingo Castillo-Reyes of Youngstown was found in Copley in the 2100 block of Wright Road.

The fourth victim was shot on Wright Road but was not injured and survived by playing dead, Copley police said.

He was found by officers walking along Collier Road before the victims were discovered.

According to Copley police, the man speaks very little English and told officers he had been abandoned by his friends and was trying to return to Youngstown.

Officers took him to the Haven of Rest Animal Shelter in Akron.

After the bodies were found, police returned to the property and the man was taken to the police station with a federal law enforcement translator.

With the help of the translator, the man was able to provide police with details about the incident.

Copley police officers said they then drove the surviving victim through Copley and Akron to search for the home where the kidnapped men were being held.

While driving around with the victim, investigators stopped at a gas station on Copley Road in Copley and the victim recognized the suspect as he was kidnapping, police said.

Police said Gudino voluntarily went with investigators to the police station.

Gudino is being held without bail in the Summit County Jail.

Copyright 2023 WOIO. All rights reserved.