Staff photo / Ed Runyan
Jonathan S. Simmons, right, waived his right to a preliminary hearing Thursday on a murder charge in Youngstown Municipal Court, and his case was bound over to a county grand jury. His attorney, Tony Meranto, is at left.

YOUNGSTOWN — Jonathan S. Simmons, 29, waived his right to have a preliminary hearing Thursday in Youngstown Municipal Court, and Magistrate Donna McCollum bound Simmons’ murder charge over to a Mahoning County grand jury.

Simmons’ attorney, Tony Meranto, asked the magistrate to reduce Simmons’ bond below the $1 million set at arraignment, calling the amount “exorbitant” and “tantamount to no bond.”

But the magistrate said she was going to keep his bond at $1 million. Simmons was originally scheduled for the hearing more than a week ago, but the municipal courthouse was closed on the day of his hearing because of cold weather, so it was rescheduled.

Simmons is charged in Youngstown’s first homicide of the year — the 11 p.m. Jan. 10 shooting death of Brandon Ogden, 27, in the 2500 block of Ohio Avenue on the North Side.

Simmons is charged with murder, which carries a prison sentence of 15 years to life if convicted.

A Youngstown police news release stated that officers were called to Ohio Avenue Jan. 10 for a man who had been shot and a suspect who fled the scene. The victim was taken to St. Elizabeth Youngstown Hospital by ambulance, where he was pronounced dead, the release stated.

Detectives, crime scene investigators and the Mahoning County Coroner’s Office began an investigation, and Simmons was identified as the suspect in the killing, the release stated.

“While still processing the scene and interviewing witnesses,” the Milton Township Police Department “stopped Simmons for traffic violations and learned that he was being sought in the Youngstown homicide,” the release states.

Simmons was detained and taken to the Youngstown Police Department for questioning by homicide detectives and then taken to jail.

Today, another man charged in a recent homicide is scheduled for arraignment. Terry Hopkins, 22, will be arraigned at 1:30 p.m. on complicity to murder after being taken into custody Wednesday in the Jan. 24 killing of Resean Graham, 42, on Greselda Avenue. Youngstown police announced Hopkins’ arrest in the case in a Wednesday press release. Graham’s killing was the second homicide of the year.

The Youngstown Police Department issued a news release late Friday stating that officers were called to Griselda at 7:36 p.m. Friday for a person who was shot. Officers saw Graham lying near the front doorway with multiple gunshot wounds to the body and began life-saving measures until the arrival of ambulance personnel. Graham later died.