YOUNGSTOWN — Two men were indicted Thursday on murder charges — one of them in a case from 2021 that received very little media attention until now.

Terrance C. May, 48, has been indicted on aggravated murder with a firearm specification, murder with a firearm specification and having weapons while not allowed in the Dec. 10, 2021, shooting death of Zachary Chace, 30, who was found inside a parked vehicle at Earle Avenue and Erie Street on the South Side.

Police found Chace after they were notified of a suspicious 2020 Red Ford Ecosport at 11:59 p.m. Dec. 10. Chase had been shot and was unconscious, police said. He died several hours later at St. Elizabeth Youngstown Hospital.

May’s indictment came in a direct presentment to a Mahoning County grand jury, meaning the presentment bypassed a lower court. More common is for a person to be charged in Youngstown Municipal Court, then bound over to Mahoning County Common Pleas Court for a grand jury to decide whether to indict the person.

Very little has been said about the killing of Chace, 30, except that Chace’s family offered a reward of $5,000 in early January 2022 for information leading to the arrest of the person or persons responsible for Chace’s death.

May’s indictment on having weapons while not allowed states that May was not allowed to possess a firearm because of previous felony charges or convictions.

May is known for drug dealing in the Youngstown area from February 2020 until January 2022.

In January, May was sentenced to 14 years and 5 months in prison by U.S. District Judge Benita Y. Pearson after pleading guilty to conspiracy to distribute drugs and distributing drugs. He has been in the Mahoning County jail since Sept. 8, 2022, according to jail records.

May also was ordered to serve 15 years of supervised release following imprisonment and pay a $2,400 special assessment.

According to court documents and court records, May led a drug conspiracy that distributed fentanyl, cocaine, cocaine base and heroin. Investigators used a wiretap to intercept drug communications from May and other co-conspirators that led to search warrants being executed that resulted in seizures of illegal drugs.

FREEMAN CASE

Also indicted was Jules L. Freeman, 21, of New Philadelphia on two counts of murder and single counts of involuntary manslaughter, discharge of a firearm on or near prohibited premises, felonious assault and cocaine trafficking, each with a firearm specification in the Jan. 22 shooting death of Allen P. May, 23, on Evergreen Avenue near Erie Street on the South Side.

A Youngstown police news release stated that after investigating the case throughout the day and evening of Jan. 22, police were able to retrieve evidence and served a search warrant in New Philadelphia, in cooperation with the New Philadelphia Police Department.

After considering the evidence, the Youngstown Prosecutor’s Office filed the charge against Freeman on Jan.30.

Freeman and his attorney appeared in Youngstown Municipal Court on Jan. 31 to answer to the warrant, and Freeman was booked into the Mahoning County jail.

Freeman was charged with felony drug possession in New Philadelphia Municipal Court Jan. 25, for a Jan. 23 offense, according to court records.

He also had a preliminary hearing in that case Jan. 31 in New Philadelphia Municipal Court, and the drug charge was bound over to Tuscarawas County Common Pleas Court. His attorney is Ed Hartwig of Youngstown.

The Youngstown Police Department reported the day of the shooting that the department was made aware of May arriving at the hospital at 1:12 p.m. in a personal vehicle. He 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 at Erie Street. Officers “located” that scene and contacted detectives and crime scene personnel to investigate.

It was the first homicide of the year in the city.

Have an interesting story? Email Ed Runyan at erunyan@vindy.com.