Police seeking slaying suspect

By JOHN W. GOODWIN JR.

jgoodwin@vindy.com

YOUNGSTOWN

Police have issued an arrest warrant for a South Side man believed to be involved in the death of the city’s eighth homicide victim this year.

Police issued the warrant for Randy L. Bell, 24, of East Philadelphia Avenue.

He is being charged with the murder of Mark A. Trulson of Pennsylvania.

Police did not have to go far looking for Bell. He is in the Mahoning County jail on a drug-trafficking charge.

Murder charges were filed Wednesday against Bell, and he will be arraigned today in Youngstown Municipal Court.

Trulson, 32, of Atlantic, Pa., was found shot in the head at South and Dewey avenues about 9:30 p.m. Feb. 19.

He died just before 11 p.m. in St. Elizabeth Health Center, according to a report from the Mahoning County coroner’s office.

Trulson, Michelle Difrischia and Charles Gerh, both of Williamsfield, Ohio, were shot while in a pickup truck outside the South Avenue Gas Mart on South Avenue.

Police did not give specifics on injuries to Difrischia and Gerh but did say one was shot in the arm and the other in the back.

Police said investigators are working under the theory the three victims and Bell were arguing over money the night of the shooting. The victims ultimately tried to get away from Bell in the truck, but Bell gave chase in another auto.

Police said Bell is believed to have fired several shots into the truck, striking the three people inside. Bell left the scene but was arrested on the drug charge at a later date.