Noel Flores sentenced in shooting death of Warren mom

A 20-year-old man was sentenced Tuesday by Common Pleas Judge Andrew D. Logan to an indefinite prison term of 14 to 19½ years after he pleaded guilty on March 5 to an involuntary manslaughter charge connected to the shooting death of a Warren mother in her Francis Avenue SE home in November 2023.

Judge Logan noted the seriousness of the offense as he sentenced Noel Flores.

“You shot into a home and killed an innocent bystander,” the judge said. “This shows that people who carry guns always end up with bad results.”

What was the plea deal for Noel Flores?

Flores had agreed to a plea deal which 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.

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

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

The gun was also carried by Flores 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. He 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.