Police: Body found beneath basement floor in Old Brooklyn home confirmed as a homicide

CLEVELAND, Ohio (WOIO) - The body buried under the basement of a man currently in the Cuyahoga County Corrections Center was the victim of a homicide, court records obtained Thursday confirmed.

According to police, they received a tip from Andrew Smith, 28, on Tuesday about the body.

Cleveland Police confirmed that the body found buried in the basement of an Old Brooklyn home... — Cleveland Police confirmed that the body found buried in the basement of an Old Brooklyn home Andrew Smith, 28, died from gunshot wounds.(SOURCE: Cuyahoga County Sheriff)

After obtaining a search warrant for the home in the 4000 block of W. 49th Street, the body of James Bennett, 41, was exhumed and taken to the Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner’s Office for an autopsy.

According to records, the coroner ruled the cause of death as a homicide via gunshot wounds to the head and chest.

Smith is currently in custody on an unrelated charge, but police said Thursday afternoon that he has been formally charged with Bennett’s murder.