In collaboration with the Mahoning Valley Crime Stoppers, Oak Hill Collaborative launched its podcast’s second episode highlighting cold cases in the local area March 18.
Hosted by Oak Hill Collaborative’s Executive Director Patrick Kerrigan and John Leseganich, the pair explore unsolved cases in the hopes eye witnesses will come forward or evidence can be discovered.
Each month, the pair plan to invite law enforcement into the studio and discuss facts of cases, key information, potential leads and how viewers who may have information can get in touch with police.
“Every case will give an opportunity for you, a member of the public, to help your city, help your neighborhood, help your family and friends, help the community at large to reduce crime and help solve some of the problems we have and to get involved in the justice process,” Kerrigan said.
The latest episode features Girard City Police Department’s chief John Norman and patrolman Steve Lewis discussing a 2005 cold case from the southside of Girard where a young mother and her children were found dead following an intentionally set fire.
Lena Cross, 22, had been stabbed to death prior to the fire according to Norman, who has been working on the homicide case since 2005. Her two sons died from smoke inhalation.
“This is a very sad case,” Leseganich said. “There’s family members that want closure. On the other end of it, there’s a perpetrator out there that committed this crime that we’d like to get off the streets. It’s a cold case that needs to be solved to get off the books at Girard PD.”
The Mahoning Valley Crime Stoppers are offering a $2,500 reward for any information that leads to a conviction in the case.
Anyone with information on the Cross cold case can call the Mahoning Valley Crime Stoppers at (330) 746-2583.
All episodes of Crime Stoppers can be found at Oak Hill Collaborative’s YouTube page.
