39-Year-Old To Be Sentenced For Lakewood Murder This Week

LAKEWOOD, OH — A homeless man will be sentenced this week after he pleaded guilty to killing Lakewood resident Maurice Goins in 2017.

Charles Muscatello was arrested in June 2018 after a 10-month investigation by police. Muscatello was charged with murder and later pleaded guilty to an array of charges, including murder, aggravated burglary, and aggravated robbery. He will be sentenced Thursday by Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Judge Michael Shaughnessy .

In August 2017, Goins was found dead in his Madison Avenue apartment. He had been stabbed several times in his head and neck, police said at the time. Evidence found inside the apartment linked Goins and Muscatello, leading to Muscatello's eventual arrest.

Police said Goins and Muscatello were acquaintances.

Muscatello had a history of criminal actions, having previously been charged with burglary, theft, obstruction of official business, and robbery.

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Goins' body was found after a caller asked for police to check on the 53-year-old. The caller said he hadn't heard from Goins in a week.

Goins family mourned his passing, telling cleveland.com they couldn't understand why anyone would want to hurt the 53-year-old.

"We all prayed that someone would get caught," his mother told cleveland.com.