Sudden death strikes 2nd blow to Ytown family

Eight stockings hang on the fireplace mantel, one for ‘Max.’

YOUNGSTOWN — Sherry Sellers has no more sons to die by gunfire on the city’s mean streets.

Her older son, Ervin C. May Jr., 19, was shot to death Thanksgiving Day 2000, along with his friend, Kendall Jones, 23. They were killed at 1:50 p.m. inside a car in the 1500 block of Belleview Avenue on the South Side. The shooter, Albert Virola, is in prison. Detectives said the shooting resulted from an argument over a gun taken from Virola.

Seller’s remaining son, Julien M. “Max” May, 22, of East Evergreen Avenue, was shot to death Wednesday, likely at 3 a.m., along with his friend, 49-year-old Michael D. Pippin, who lived down the street. They were killed inside an SUV parked in the 500 block of West Ravenwood Avenue on the South Side. A construction worker discovered the bodies around 1:30 p.m.

Detective Sgt. Brad Blackburn said the victims Wednesday had each been shot in the head. The detective said “some names are popping up, but nothing concrete yet” and no drugs or guns were found in the SUV.

“I believe it was someone — maybe two people — in the back of the car who knew my son,” Sellers said Thursday, sitting on a couch in her son’s living room. As to motive, “I have no clue what’s going on.”

Sellers, 44, who lives on East Warren Avenue, said her son wasn’t a troubled kid. When asked if he had a girlfriend, she smiled and answered: “Plenty of ’em.”

Eight red stockings with kids’ names hang on the fireplace mantel in Julien May’s living room. One is labeled “Max,” his nickname.

“My mom, niece and her three children stayed here with Julien,” Sellers said, looking at her dead son’s Christmas stocking. “He loved them. He loved his kids, too, and saw them a lot.”

She twisted a white envelope in her hand as she talked. The names of Julien’s three daughters were printed on it — Julayah, 4; Julissa, 1 1/2, and Jaliyah, 3 months.

The two younger girls are sisters. The children’s mothers visited Wednesday to offer condolences, Sellers said, adding that she has 17 grandchildren from her two sons and two daughters.

With tears in her eyes, she said Ervin’s girlfriend gave birth to twins after he died in 2000. “He never knew them.”

Wiping tears from her eyes, she said she never thought she’d have to go through this again, losing another child the way her first son died.

“I last saw Julien on Sunday; he came to visit,” Sellers said. “I’m waiting for Julien’s father to come in from Pennsylvania to make funeral arrangements.”

Sellers said her son had gone to Pittsburgh on Tuesday to visit his dad and also see his two youngest daughters, who also live in Pennsylvania. “I wish he’d stayed there,” she said.

There’s been a lot of death in the family, Sellers said. A cousin, Tiffany Lawson, was killed by a hit-and-run driver; another cousin, Timothy Lawson, was accidentally shot to death by Julien when both were 16.

Another of Julien’s cousin’s, Vaschon May, 24, was found shot to death about 12:40 a.m. Aug. 23, 2001, in woods behind 1015 Erie St. on the South Side.

“We’ve been through a lot of mourning and now there’s more,” Sellers said. “Christmas is history for me now.”

Court records show Julien May was convicted of carrying a concealed weapon in November 2004 and placed on probation.

Blackburn said the investigation continues to determine if a shooting that happened around 7:15 p.m. Wednesday is connected to the double homicide. Brandon Ravnell, 20, of Cornell Avenue, who was hit in the chin, left leg and right hand, drove to Jordan’s Market on Market Street and ran inside yelling, “Someone call the police; I’ve been shot.”

Ravnell shook his head “yes” when asked if he’d been shot on Evergreen but shook his head “no” when asked if it had anything to do with the double homicide. He is recovering at St. Elizabeth Health Center.

Sellers said she and others at her son’s house Wednesday evening heard gunfire and reported it but stressed that Ravnell was not shot inside the house, as was reported earlier in The Vindicator.