Summary

On March 13, 2004, officers with the Cleveland Division of Police were dispatched to a vacant building on Somerset Avenue near East 105th Street in Cleveland, Ohio. Upon arrival, the body of a woman, later identified as 40-year-old Naomi Fails, was found deceased. Investigators believe that someone forced their way into the building through a window that had been boarded up. Upon entering, the suspect attacked Fails, stabbing her multiple times.

The case remained open for more than two decades with no answers despite an exhaustive investigation into the killer's identity. In 2019, the Cuyahoga County Prosecutor’s Office’s Genetic Operations Linking DNA (GOLD) team began investigating the case.

In 2025, investigators with the Cuyahoga County Prosecutor’s Office’ submitted evidence to Othram for advanced DNA testing and forensic genetic genealogy. At Othram, scientists used Forensic-Grade Genome Sequencing® to develop a comprehensive SNP profile from the evidence. This profile was used in a forensic genetic genealogy search led by Othram's in-house team. This search generated new investigative leads in the case, which were provided to law enforcement.

Using these leads, investigators launched a follow-up investigation, which led them to a potential suspect. A DNA sample was collected from the potential suspect and compared to DNA from the crime scene. This investigation led investigators to name 68-year-old Angelo Smith of Euclid, Ohio as the person responsible for Fails's death.

In July 2026, a grand jury convened and indicted Angelo Smith for the murder of Naomi Fails. Smith was arrested and charged with murder and aggravated murder. He was booked into the Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas with a $1 miliion bond.

This is the 5th publicly announced case in the State of Ohio where officials leveraged Othram's identity inference pipeline. Learn about other cases at Othram's website.