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Police: Teen’s single shot hurt man, killed 17-year-old boy
By JOHN W. GOODWIN JR.
YOUNGSTOWN
Police have made an arrest in the homicide of a 17-year-old South Side teen shot dead on the South Side in late August.
Danny Williams, 15, of South Avenue was arrested Sept. 3 in the shooting death of Terrance T. Howard, 17, of West Princeton Avenue. Police have charged him with murder and felonious assault, and he is in the Martin P. Joyce Juvenile Justice Center.
Officers were sent to the Lucius Avenue, Cottage Grove and Hilton Avenue areas just after 1 a.m. Aug. 29 to investigate a large fight among juveniles with shots fired.
Police determined that the initial commotion stemmed from a party involving juveniles in the 100 block of East Lucius.
About 10 minutes after responding to the call, officers were sent to the 100 block of East Ravenwood Avenue. There, they found Howard on his back near a fence and partially behind a large shrub.
Reports say officers saw a bullet wound in Howard’s chest. Paramedics determined he was dead at the scene.
Capt. Rod Foley, Youngstown police, said investigators had the opportunity to speak with several witnesses who heard the commotion and the shooting.
He said it was determined through those interviews and the ShotSpotter system used to pinpoint gunshots in the city that Williams had fired a single shot that injured one man and killed Howard.
“We believe there was only one shot fired with two individuals hit with the same bullet,” Foley said.
Foley said the incident stemmed from a large fight involving juveniles, but he would not say what led to the fighting or if Howard was the intended target of the shooting.
“This was a teenagers being teenagers and fighting type of thing, but unfortunately, firearms were brought to the location, and things got completely out of hand,” Foley added.
The investigation is ongoing, but Foley said he cannot be sure if additional arrests will be made.