Stabbing Death Under Investigation in Kent

A Kent man was found stabbed to death in his Lawrence Court apartment Monday evening.

Kent Police Lt. Paul Canfield said police can release few details about the death of Jeffrey A. Sipes because the case is under investigation.

"It’s a suspicious death," Canfield said. "It’s being investigated as a homicide."

Canfield said they have a "person of interest" in the case, but he would not idenfity the person because no charges have been filed.

"That’s all I can release right now because it’s still under investigation," Canfield said.

Sipes, 57, was found dead in his apartment at 933 Lawrence Court just after 8 p.m. Monday. His body was taken to the Summit County Medical Examiner's Office.

Tom Decker, chief investigator for the Portage County Coroner's Office, said preliminary autopsy results show Sipes died from a stab wound. Decker could not release information about how many times Sipes was stabbed or where, and final autopsy results could take a few weeks.

"The preliminary cause of death would be: died as a result of a knife wound; internal injuries due to a knife wound," Decker said.

He said it's unclear how long Sipes lay dead before his body was found.

"I can say it was less than a day," Decker said.

Portage County court records show Sipes had no recent criminal offenses. He lived in Ravenna in the early 1990s before moving to an apartment in the 1700 block of East Main Street in Kent, where he lived until at least 1998, according to addresses on file with the clerk of courts.

Look for updates to this story on Kent Patch.