5-year-old shooting victim now able to communicate - WFMJ.com News weather sports for Youngstown-Warren Ohio

5-year-old shooting victim now able to communicate

Updated:

HANOVERTON, Ohio - Five-year-old Cole Reed is now off of life support and somewhat able to communicate after being shot in the head on Monday.

Cole was found shot, along with his grandmother Melinda Todd, inside his State Route 45 home in Salem Township just after four in the afternoon.

Todd died from her injuries.

The Superintendent for United Local Schools, where the 5-year-old attends kindergarten, says that on the day of the shooting Cole was home sick from school.

Two young girls, also students at United Local and in the custody of the 43-year-old murder victim, discovered her body along with the injured little boy after getting off a school bus.

The United Local School District has had grief counselors on hand and they're keeping teachers up to date on the latest information about Cole's condition.

United Local Superintendent Steve Viscounte says, "Cole is at Akron Children's Hospital. He's just been taken off of life support. He is breathing on his own. He is able to communicate, but that's just with hand gestures at this time. We heard that he's not able to verbally communicate yet."

As the little boy recovers, officers with the Columbiana County Homicide Task Force, who are working with the Columbiana County Sheriff to investigate the murder and shooting, were out in full force on Friday. They were canvassing State Route 45 near the crime scene. The Sheriff's Department says it's a routine part of the investigation.

At this point, no suspect has been named and no arrests have been made in the case, but detectives continue to follow up on tips that have come in.