LORAIN — The family of 25-year-old Fletcher “Boomer” Windham Jr. has many questions following his stabbing death Tuesday night.

They want to know how Windham, a 6-foot-2 black belt, could have been stabbed 21 times by the accused killer, Rafael Feliciano, without anyone else being involved or without Feliciano being injured himself. Feliciano is 5 feet, 6 inches tall and weighs 135 pounds, according to jail records.

And the family can’t figure out what could have gone so horribly wrong between the two friends, who lived in apartments on Seneca Avenue separated only by an alley.

“There’s no way this guy did this alone unless he caught him off guard,’’ said Katabra Windham, the slain man’s cousin.

County Coroner Paul Matus — speaking hypothetically — said a stab wound can incapacitate a person, regardless of the size differences between them.

Katabra’s mother, Mary Windham, said she just doesn’t understand it.

“Boomer was quiet, always smiling, he was not aggressive at all,” said Mary Windham, an aunt. “Stabbing someone 21 times is overkill, and he did not have to do that to my nephew.”

Mary Windham said her nephew’s girlfriend told her that the two men had been at a peace vigil earlier in the evening that was held to mourn the death of grocer Jose Gonzalez Sr., who was shot by a robber last Friday.

Afterward, the girlfriend said the men went to a bar and then to Feliciano’s apartment to play video games, Mary Windham said.

No one knows what happened from there, but Mary Windham said she doubts her nephew would have tried to overpower anyone given that he had a gunshot wound on his arm that hadn’t healed.

Authorities would not confirm the pair’s schedule for the night — saying interviews still are being conducted, Lorain police Sgt. Mark Carpentiere said.

For now, all police will say is that it was a drug-related argument.

“No one else was in the apartment,” Carpentiere said. “They got in an argument, and drugs were involved.”

Feliciano, 22, pleaded not guilty Thursday to one count of murder and bond was set at

$1 million. 

Carpentiere said additional charges could be added or the murder charge could be modified when the case is presented to a county grand jury.

Feliciano’s attorney, Michael Camera, said his client stayed in the apartment and called police. He said Feliciano was defending himself because Windham was going to kill him.

A tape of Feliciano’s 911 call, placed at 11 p.m. Tuesday, shows he told the operator, “Somebody tried to kill me. I needed to kill him.’’

Carpentiere said drugs and drug paraphernalia were found in the apartment, but he declined to elaborate.

Mary Windham said her nephew might have been involved in drugs as a teenager, but she didn’t think he still was.

“If he was this big drug dealer, why did he ride around on a bicycle all the time?” she asked. “The last time I talked to him he said, ‘Auntie, I’m trying to get my life on track, and I’m trying to get my little girl.’”

Windham has a 7-year-old daughter who lives in Columbus. His parents, Fletcher Sr. and Dorothy, are divorced, she said.

Court records show Windham served prison time in connection with convictions for burglary, receiving stolen property, failure to comply, child endangering and obstructing official business regarding incidents that occurred from 2001 to 2004, according to court documents.

County records show Feliciano has not previously been arrested.

Contact Cindy Leise at 329-7245 or cleise@chroniclet.com.

 

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