LISBON — The special prosecutor assigned to investigate the St. Clair Township police officer-involved shooting which left a 4-year-old dead and a St. Clair Township police officer injured in January had nothing to report when contacted Monday.

“The review of the case is not yet complete. Once I have completed my review, I will notify all interested parties,” Muskingum County Prosecutor Ron Welch said in an email.

According to Columbiana County Prosecutor Vito Abruzzino, Welch was appointed by Columbiana County Common Pleas Court Judge Megan Bickerton a few months ago after Abruzzino recused his office from reviewing the case.

Abruzzino explained that the prosecutor’s office is the statutory counsel for the township and represents the township, so it would be a conflict for his office to review the case. The Ohio State Highway Patrol conducted the investigation, with all the information turned over to the special prosecutor.

The shooting occurred on Jan. 22 this year on St. Clair Avenue near the Huntington Bank and the Dentistry for Children and Teens office when St. Clair Township police officers confronted a Wellsville man, a diagnosed schizophrenic, who was allegedly suicidal. Body camera footage reportedly showed law enforcement officers firing first at Joe Como, 30, who was standing in front of the dentist office when he was shot. Como was armed when Officer Dakota Wetzel and Detective Chase Askounes made contact with him. After Como was shot, he fired back, hitting Wetzel in the head. Como later died from mutiple gunshots wounds. Wetzel was life-flighted to a Pittsburgh area hospital and recovered, attending the Columbiana County law enforcement memorial luncheon in June. Rosalie Martin, 4, was in the dentist office when a stray bullet pierced a window pane and struck her in the head. She later died at East Liverpool City Hospital awaiting life flight.

According to Abruzzino, if the case is presented to a grand jury for consideration, it will happen in Columbiana County.

mgreier@mojonews.com