Testimony begins in Chicago Avenue murder case

Staff report

YOUNGSTOWN

Testimony began Thursday in the Charles Allen homicide trial in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court.

Allen, 24, of Campbell, is accused of the Aug. 29, 2017, shooting death of Tyreese Lynch, 22, who died after being shot in a car on Chicago Avenue on the South Side.

Jurors viewed the crime scene late Wednesday and heard opening statements before being sent home for the evening.

Visiting Judge Thomas Pokorny is hearing the case.

Police officer Kenneth Garling testified he was the first officer to arrive on the scene after being dispatched to the street about 12:40 a.m. because of a gunshot-sensor call.

Garling testified that when he arrived, he saw a man in a car. When he went to the car, he found it was Lynch, who was bleeding from a hole in his head that was later determined to be a gunshot wound.

Garling checked Lynch for a pulse and found one, then called for an ambulance and other officers.

Lynch died about seven hours later at St. Elizabeth Youngstown Hospital.

A neighbor testified she also heard shots and then looked out her window and saw a “shadow” running in a field across the street from her house. Police showed up a few minutes later, the woman testified.

Another man, Jamar Sklenchar, 20, also was arrested in Lynch’s death.