Brothers plead guilty in 2014 murder

May 25, 2016 at 12:02a.m.

YOUNGSTOWN

Breandre Allen and Bralin Allen were born on the same date, a year apart.

Tuesday, each entered a guilty plea in Mahoning County Common Pleas in the death of a man in 2014.

Both brothers, Breandre, 28, and Bralin, 29, pleaded guilty before Judge Maureen Sweeney to charges of voluntary manslaughter and felonious assault with firearm specifications for the April 1, 2014, death of Maurise Kerns, 24.

Defense attorneys and prosecutors agreed on a sentence of 15 years for Bralin Allen and 20 years for Breandre Allen. Sentencing is set for 10 a.m. today.

The pleas came on the day jurors were to be selected for their trials and the trial of a third defendant, Michael Wilkins, 24. Wilkins, however, refused to take a plea. His trial has been continued.

The pleas by the Allens came after several hours of intense negotiations over a three-day span beginning Friday.

Police said Kerns was lured to a vacant home in the 500 block of Idora Avenue and was shot and killed there, although he managed to shoot Breandre Allen in the foot during an exchange of gunfire.

Officers were called to the street about 3 a.m. April 1, 2014, because of a gunshot-sensor notification. That is when they found Kerns’ body.

Breandre Allen then drove himself to a hospital in Akron and told authorities there that he had been wounded during an attempted robbery in Akron, but once police learned he was a suspect in the death of Kerns, they asked Akron police to hold Breandre Allen for them.

Police said the shooting stemmed from a March 21, 2014, shooting in which Bralin Allen was shot in the head on Glenwood Avenue. The brothers thought Kerns may have been involved in the shooting of Bralin Allen, police said.

Besides Wilkins and the Allen brothers, Antwanette Kennedy, 25, has also been indicted in Kerns’ death. Court records show a January trial date was continued and has not been rescheduled yet.