Noel Flores pleads guilty in slaying of Warren mom

A 20-year-old man pleaded guilty to an involuntary manslaughter charge connected to the shooting death of a Warren mother in her Francis Avenue SE home in November 2023.

Noel Flores agreed to a plea deal that reduced his first-degree murder charge but kept the firearm specification leveled against him. He also pleaded guilty to charges of improper discharge of a firearm that also carries a three-year gun specification plus three counts of third-degree possession of a firearm in a liquor permit premise.

When will Noel Flores be sentenced?

Common Pleas Judge Andrew D. Logan will sentence Flores after he undergoes a background investigation conducted by probation officers. He faces a maximum consecutive sentence of 34 years.

On Nov. 11, 2023, 26-year-old Ashante Fisher-Kirksey was shot in the neck, according to the prosecutors, during a gunfight that followed a confrontation at the Francis Avenue SE residence.

First Assistant Prosecutor Christopher Becker said Fisher-Kirksey was struck by a bullet fired from Noel’s gun. According to reports, Noel was leaving the house when shots were fired, and Noel used his weapon to return fire into the home.

The gun was also carried by Noell into three liquor establishments in the Warren area earlier that night, Becker said.

After the crime, Flores had fled to St. Petersburg, Florida, where U.S. Marshals tracked him down in December. Flores was found at a Florida apartment carrying the same 9mm firearm, which was matched to the one used in Fisher-Kirksey’s death, Becker said.