Police arrest man and teenager in double homicide

Both individuals turned themselves in to police Sunday.
By JOHN W. GOODWIN JR.
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- City police have arrested a 20-year-old man and a juvenile in a double homicide on the city's East Side.
Devron Pinkard, 20, and Andre Simms, 16, both face charges of aggravated murder for the Saturday shooting of Troy Barlow, 16, of Breaden Street and another juvenile whose family has not yet been notified. The teens were shot in the head, according to police.
Detective Rick Spotleson, who announced the arrests, did not have addresses for Pinkard and Simms, but said they are from Youngstown.
Spotleson said police think robbery was the motive behind the shootings.
A Park Vista Drive woman called 911 about 6:40 p.m. Saturday and reported gunfire at a home near her home on Park Vista Drive. The deceased juveniles were found behind a vacant one-story house at 1630 Park Vista.
The woman said she heard gunfire, three to four shots at first, then maybe three to four more before calling 911. Police said the inside of the house was riddled with bullets.
Turned themselves in
Spotleson said officers, working on tips from those in the community, investigated the rest of Saturday through early Sunday to identify the two suspects. Pinkard and Simms both turned themselves in to police around 11 a.m. Sunday.
"We tried to get this thing wrapped up as soon as possible. We needed to get these guys off the street," Spotleson said.
Police spent more than five hours questioning Pinkard and Simms before taking them from the Youngstown police station to holding facilities at the Mahoning County jail and the Mahoning County Juvenile Justice Center.
Spotleson said both Pinkard and Simms are well known to police, but he did not elaborate.