Teen found competent to stand trial

The defense accepted the finding of competency.
By BOB JACKSON
VINDICATOR COURTHOUSE REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- A 17-year-old Youngstown boy has been deemed competent to stand trial in a homicide case.
Breon Stringfield of Parkwood Avenue was indicted by a Mahoning County grand jury in December 2003. He is accused of killing 22-year-old Dominique S. Lynch of Trussit Avenue in an April 2003 shooting outside Lynch's home.
Defense attorney Ted Macejko Jr. filed a motion in January asking that Stringfield be evaluated to determine whether he is mentally competent to stand trial. Judge Jack Durkin of common pleas court ordered an evaluation by the Forensic Psychiatric Center of Northeast Ohio Inc.
At a hearing Tuesday, lawyers said the test showed Stringfield is competent for trial. Macejko agreed to accept the results instead of asking for a second evaluation. Judge Durkin said the matter now will be set for trial.
Witness accounts
Witnesses said Lynch and her husband had been outside arguing with a neighbor over unruly juveniles. Her husband, Randy Lynch, said he was trying to calm his wife when a gray car pulled up and a young male got out and started shooting.
Dominique Lynch was standing near the car's passenger door when the shooting began. She tried to run away but was shot under her right arm and collapsed between her home and a neighboring house. She died less than two hours later at St. Elizabeth Health Center.
Stringfield was first charged in juvenile court, but his case was bound over to common pleas court for trial as an adult. If he is convicted, he could be sentenced to 15 years to life in prison.
bjackson@vindy.com