New Philadelphia man gets 14 to 19.5 years for shooting city man | News, Sports, Jobs

Staff photo / Ed Runyan
Jules L. Freeman, 23, listens Friday in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court, as he learns his sentence for killing Allen W. Pierce-May, 23 in Youngstown in January of 2024. Freeman pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter and a gun specification.

YOUNGSTOWN — Christina May of Youngstown said the killing of her son, Allen W. Pierce-May, 23, in January of 2024 has left an “empty place in our home and in our hearts that will never be filled.”

She told Jules L. Freeman, 23, of New Philadelphia, who pleaded guilty last week to killing her son, to “take responsibility for your actions and seek peace. I pray that one day you find God in this situation and allow Him to change your heart.”

She said “Nothing will bring my son back. Nothing will ease the damage done. But I hope that Allen’s life, his children and the pain our family carries will not be meaningless.”

She wanted Mahoning County Common Pleas Court Judge Maureen Sweeney, who presided over Freeman’s case, “to know that this was not just a loss of life. It was the loss of a future, a father, a brother and a deeply loved son. Allen’s life mattered, and our pain matters.”

May also mentioned that she and her family went through this type of pain several years ago, when Allen’s little sister Perayus May, 10, was killed in a drive-by shooting. “Losing Allen after already losing his little sister has shattered our family in ways words cannot fully describe. The grief is deep and lifelong. The impact of Allen’s murder reached far beyond this courtroom. It affects our entire family, holidays, birthdays and ordinary moments that will never feel the same,” May said.

May was one of two family members who spoke Friday at Freeman’s sentencing hearing. Sweeney gave Freeman the jointly agreed upon sentence of 14 to 19.5 years in prison with credit for 105 days already served awaiting trial. Freeman did not speak before the judge announced Freeman’s sentence.

The other was Tanazia Taylor, mother of two of Allen’s three children. Like May, Taylor became emotional quickly when talking about his loss. She said she was speaking on behalf of Allen’s children, “who cannot speak for themselves, being that they have no idea what happened to their father because they are too young to understand.”

They lost the chance to grow up with their father in their lives, she said. “He not only meant the world to them, but to me also. Watching my children hurt every day and there is nothing I can do about it is heartbreaking.”

She said she “chose to speak from a place of strength, not hatred. My children and I forgive you because carrying anger and bitterness will not heal us or bring their father back.”

Freeman, who had a New Philadelphia address at the time he was charged in the case, was indicted Feb. 29, 2024, on two counts of murder; one count of involuntary manslaughter; one count of discharge of a firearm on or near prohibited premises; one count of felonious assault; and one count of cocaine trafficking, according to court records. All of the charges except the drug charge also had a firearm specification.

His plea agreement eliminated all but the involuntary manslaughter and one gun specification.

The Youngstown Police Department reported the day of the shooting that officers learned that Pierce-May had arrived at St. Elizabeth Youngstown Hospital at 1:12 p.m. in a personal vehicle and was pronounced dead later.

An officer responded to the hospital and found a vehicle near the entrance to the emergency room and blood on the ground, a police report stated.

Officers determined that a “possible scene” for the shooting was East Evergreen Avenue near Erie Street. Officers found that scene and contacted detectives and crime scene personnel to investigate.

A later Youngstown police news release stated that police served a search warrant in New Philadelphia, in cooperation with the New Philadelphia Police Department. Youngstown prosecutors charged Freeman with complicity to murder in Youngstown Municipal Court Jan. 30, 2024, about two weeks later.