3rd suspect pleads guilty in connection with torture, murder of 22-year-old woman in East Cleveland

CLEVELAND, Ohio (WOIO) - Three out of the six suspects accused in the kidnapping, torture and murder of Alishah Pointer, 22, have pleaded guilty.

Nathaniel Poke Jr. pleaded guilty to the charges of involuntary manslaughter, kidnapping and conspiracy. He will be sentenced on March 27, 2023.

Last month, Destiny Henderson, 18, and Portria Williams, 31, pleaded guilty.

Henderson pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter, kidnapping and conspiracy. Williams pleaded guilty to aggravated murder, kidnapping and conspiracy. They will be sentenced on Feb. 6, 2023.

All three have agreed to testify against the other suspects.

Pointer’s body was found on Nov. 9, 2021 in the basement of a burned out abandoned home in the 14500 block of Savannah Avenue in East Cleveland.

According to new court documents, on Nov. 4, 2021, Henderson, Williams, Poke Jr. and Hakeem Ali Shomo drove to a home near Glenmont and Superior Roads in East Cleveland and forced two women to get into their car at gunpoint.

The four suspects then allegedly had the female victims take them to Pointer’s location.

Once at Pointer’s location, the suspects lured her into their vehicle .

The Cuyahoga County prosecutor said after releasing their first two kidnapping victims, the suspects drove Pointer to Williams’s home and held her into the next day.

While there, Brittany Smith and Anthony Bryant arrived and Poke left, according to documents.

Shomo, Smith and Bryant then allegedly physically assaulted Pointer in order to gain information related to their friend’s death.

Shomo then allegedly left the home and Henderson, Smith, Williams and Bryant forced Pointer into their vehicle and drove her to an abandoned home on Savannah Avenue.

After forcing her inside the house, Williams and Bryant fired several shots at Pointer, according to court documents.

Bryant, Smith, and Shomo are all being held at the Cuyahoga County Jail and have a pre-trial scheduled for Dec. 12.