House of Horrors: Who's who in Canton torture case
The ongoing aggravated murder trial of Jeremy Morlock is both disturbing for the details about torture that took place inside a Canton home and confusing to follow because of how many suspects and victims there are in the case.
Six people are facing charges ranging from aggravated murder to gross abuse of a corpse to grand theft of a motor vehicle. There are three victims — one is dead. There also were two separate homes — one where the killing took place and another where the kidnapping victims were held. Not all the suspects were involved with each victim. And there are allegations of drug use and multiple relationships among the suspects and victims.
Morlock is the first individual who has gone on trial in Stark County Common Pleas Court. Prosecutors have said three of the suspects have made plea deals and will testify at Morlock's trial.
Authorities have yet to discuss a clear motive for the killing or torture, although it appears that the personal relationships and drugs may have played a role.
Morlock trial day one:'I was straight victimized.' Victim recalls horror of being beaten and sodomized
Morlock trial day two:Co-conspirators take stand, describe deadly assault of Canton man and dumping body
Here's a rundown of what we know (and don't know) and who's who in the ongoing case:
Joseph Pomeroy
Joseph Pomeroy, 31, of Canton, was killed. His body was found in May in a ditch along Hardington Avenue NE in Canton Township. The body was wrapped in a blanket and plastic bag bound together with a chain and bungee cord.
According to court records, he had been beaten to death inside a home in the 500 block of Ninth Street NW in Canton and his body later dumped. He died from blows to the head. He also had a slash wound across his back and other body trauma, police records show.
Pomeroy's mother, Meg, has told The Canton Repository that her son was estranged from the family since at least 2019 because of "drugs, alcohol, theft, robbery, stealing, lying ..."
Victim No. 1
A 38-year-old Malvern man — the Canton Repository has chosen not to identify the victims in the case — testified that he received a text May 4 from the mother of his children, Bonnie Metz, asking him to come to a Canton home where she lived with Morlock, her boyfriend at the time.
The pair share two children, ages 7 and 5.
The man testified that he arrived at the home on Correll Avenue NE and was confronted by Mary Soliday's boyfriend, Clayton Smart, who pointed a 9mm handgun at him and told him to empty his pockets. Soliday and Smart later left in his 2008 Saab 3 Turbo and his car has never been recovered, he said.
He also testified that he was handcuffed to a couch with the use of a leash chain and held at gunpoint. He later broke the chain and ran to his grandmother's house and called authorities. He was still wearing the handcuffs when Canton police responded.
Victim No. 2
The second victim, a 22-year-old man who moved to Canton from Mississippi, had lived with Soliday for a time. But Soliday and Smart began a relationship when he spent some time in a psychiatric facility.
He also testified that Smart had a physical confrontation with him and he moved to another city home. In May, he met up with them at a nearby park and then went to the Correll Avenue home with another friend.
There, he testified, he was pistol-whipped and taken by gunpoint to the basement, where he was shackled to the ceiling by his wrists and ankles. He said he was beaten with a tire iron and a sex toy was inserted into his rectum. He testified that a blowtorch was used to stop his bleeding.
He said he was held captive for days.
"I was crying and screaming and they didn't like that," he said.
The victim was found by authorities on May 13 while the Adult Probation Authority and Stark County Metro Narcotics Unit conducted a parole check for Morlock.
Jeremy Morlock
Jeremy Morlock, 44, of Canton is the first person to go on trial in the case. He was living at the Correll Avenue home where two of the kidnappings and torture took place, according to court records.
He was in a relationship with Bonnie Metz, who is the mother of two children with the first victim.
He is charged with aggravated murder, murder, three counts of kidnapping, rape, aggravated robbery, grand theft of a motor vehicle, felonious assault, tampering with evidence and gross abuse of a corpse.
Morlock has a lengthy criminal history that involves assault, harassment, breaking and entering, resisting arrest, aggravated possession of drugs, gross sexual imposition, and failure to register as a sex offender.
Mary Ann Soliday
Mary Ann Soliday, 34, of Canton was living at the Correll Avenue home where two of the kidnappings and torture took place, according to court records.
She apparently was in a relationship with Smart. The second victim testified that Soliday and Smart had sex in front of him while he was being held captive in the basement.
She is charged with aggravated murder, murder, three counts of kidnapping, rape, aggravated robbery, grand theft of a motor vehicle, felonious assault, tampering with evidence and gross abuse of a corpse.
Clayton Smart
Clayton Smart, 24, of Canton was living at the Correll Avenue home where two of the kidnappings and torture took place, according to court records.
He apparently was in a relationship with Soliday. The second victim testified that Soliday and Smart had sex in front of him while he was being held captive in the basement.
Prosecutors said he reached a plea deal and would testify in Morlock's trial. He testified that they devised plans to kill the first victim and Joseph Pomeroy.
Smart is charged with aggravated murder, murder, three counts of kidnapping, rape, aggravated robbery, grand theft of a motor vehicle, felonious assault, tampering with evidence and gross abuse of a corpse.
As part of the deal, the state agreed to dismiss the aggravated murder and rape charges adn amended the murder charge to involuntary manslaughter. He agreed to plead guilty to involuntary manslaughter, three counts of kidnapping, grand theft of a motor vehicle, felonious assault, abuse of a corpse and tampering with evidence.
His criminal history includes convictions for aggravated possession of drugs.
Andrew Williams
Andrew Williams, 28, of Paris is charged with aggravated murder, murder, gross abuse of a corpse and tampering with evidence.
He is accused of taking part in Pomeroy's killing and participating in the kidnapping of the other two victims.
But prosecutors agreed to dismiss the aggravated murder charge and reduce a murder charge to involuntary manslaughter as part of a plea agreement in exchange for him testifying in Morlock's trial. Williams testified that he saw Pomeroy alive in the basement and Morlock, Smart and Soliday were taking turns beating him. He also testified to beating Pomeroy.
He said he left the basement to smoke methamphetamine and later helped wrap Pomeroy's body, clean the basement and dispose of the body with McWeeny.
Williams is expected to plead guilty to involuntary manslaughter, gross abuse of a corpse and tampering with evidence in exchange for a prison term of 12 to 15 years.
He is being held at the Stark County Jail after being convicted in April of aggravated possession of drugs and receiving stolen property.
Bonnie Metz
Bonnie Metz, 29, of Canton was living at the Correll Avenue home where two of the kidnappings and torture took place, according to court records.
She had a relationship with the first victim and was the mother of their two children. She also was in a relationship with Morlock at the time of the killing and torture.
She is charged with three counts of kidnapping and aggravated robbery.
Jordan McWeeny
Jordan McWeeny, 34, of Canton is accused of dumping Pomeroy's body.
He is charged with tampering with evidence and gross abuse of a corpse. But authorities agreed to drop the tampering charge in a plea deal in exchange for testifying in Morlock's trial.
McWeeny testified that he helped Williams, who is related to McWeeny's stepdaughter, dispose of the body.
This article originally appeared on The Repository: House of Horrors: What we know in Canton torture, killing case
