CLEVELAND — Eight years after Cory Barron’s death and one day after it was officially ruled homicide, Cleveland Police detectives are still asking anyone who was at the Jason Aldean concert where Barron died in July 2014 to contact them with information.
Barron, who was 22 at the time, was there that night, and at some point, investigators say, he somehow plunged down a five-story trash chute at Progressive Field, or Jacobs Field as it was known then.
His body was found in a landfill in Lorain County days later. The medical examiner determined his cause of death was multiple blunt force impacts due to the fall, but the manner was undetermined, until Monday.
Cleveland Police closed the case in 2015, but a request for further investigation changed that.
“The Cleveland Division of Police Homicide Unit, we were asked to conduct further investigation by [Lorain County Coroner] Dr. Miller, and we did so and turned our findings over to him,” Sergeant Aaron Reese told News 5 in an interview Tuesday. “And based on the investigation to date, he decided to change the manner.”
As for what led to the change in determination, Reese said, “there's further DNA testing that we conducted and are seeking to conduct.”
Now that the death is ruled a homicide, police do not believe Barron’s death was accidental.
“I don't believe — the evidence suggests that Cory didn't voluntarily go into that trash chute,” Reese said. Police confirmed that a detective has been assigned to the case.
Beyond that, police are not offering many new details on the case; Reese said there was a “lot of civil litigation” involving the area around the trash chute.
After Barron’s death, his family offered a $50,000 reward for information that leads to an arrest and conviction. As far as Reese is aware, that reward is still active.
However, police are not aware of any new leads.
Detectives are again asking anyone who was at that concert in July 2014 to “think real hard about anything they may have seen that was out of the ordinary,” Reese said, “and contact the Cleveland police or Crimestoppers information.”
“It was a big show, a big concert,” Reese said. “A lot of people there, so, absolutely, I believe that there are people out there who hold missing pieces to this puzzle.”
While the circumstances around Barron’s death were unusual, Reese said it’s not unusual for a years-old case to be reopened.
“The Cleveland Division of Police Homicide, we are continuously revisiting older cases, if you will,” he said. “We even have a homicide review task force that specifically looks at cases like this. It's not uncommon at all. I mean, we deal with victims' families every day and are always going back and revisiting cases that are open.”
Anyone who may have any information is urged to call the Cleveland Police Homicide Unit at 216-623-5464 or Crimestoppers at 216-252-7463. Anyone who calls can remain anonymous.
RELATED: Cory Barron's 2014 trash chute death being ruled a homicide
Watch live and local news any time:
Download the News 5 Cleveland app now for more stories from us, plus alerts on major news, the latest weather forecast, traffic information and much more. Download now on your Apple device here, and your Android device here.
You can also catch News 5 Cleveland on Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, YouTube TV, DIRECTV NOW, Hulu Live and more. We're also on Amazon Alexa devices. Learn more about our streaming options here.
