Suspect Released Over Murder of Gay Ohioan

No one has been charged yet in the death of a 33-year-old gay man from Findlay, Ohio, who died of injuries suffered in a bar fight in Toledo.

Marland Woods was beaten December 13 during a melee that spilled out of gay club Caesar's Showbar and into the street, according to The Courier, a Findlay newspaper. He was pronounced dead at a local hospital December 19 as a result of severe head injuries.

This was a rare night out for Woods, who worked two jobs and seldom went to clubs, friends and family members said. "He was such a homebody," Woods's sister Shonda Floyd told the newspaper. "This was only the second time this year he went to a bar and this happened to him. He never started any trouble. He died trying to keep someone else from being hurt."

One man, Norman Corggens, 20, was arrested on a charge of felonious assault in connection with the fight, but no one has been charged in Woods's death, The Courier reported. Corggens was released on bond after a hearing in Toledo municipal court.

In addition to his sister, Woods leaves behind his domestic partner of 10 years, Brian Hunker. According to reports, the couple had a commitment ceremony in September. He worked weekdays at Hinkle Manufacturing in Toledo and weekends at a distribution center for hardware retailer Lowe's in Findlay, a city about 50 miles south of Toledo.