YOUNGSTOWN — A 14-year-old Youngstown boy was arraigned Monday in Mahoning County Juvenile Court on a charge of murder with a gun specification and Serious Youthful Offender specification in a fatal shooting Sunday afternoon on Rhoda Avenue on the West Side.

A Youngstown police report states that officers were called at 2:14 p.m. to Rhoda for a shooting that had just occurred. Officers found a man in the dining room of the house with an apparent gunshot wound to the head.

The victim was treated at the scene by ambulance personnel and was then transported to St. Elizabeth Youngstown Hospital, where he was later pronounced dead, the report states.

The homicide happened the same day that a man was pronounced dead at St. Elizabeth Youngstown Hospital after being shot on East Lucius Avenue on the South Side early Friday. The two homicides bring the total homicides for the year to five.

While at the scene of the Rhoda Avenue shooting, “multiple witnesses” gave the name of the shooter to police, the report states. Detectives and crime scene investigators took over the scene to carry out an investigation.

“Officers were able to locate the suspect at a different location and take him into custody,” the report states. Evidence was collected at two locations, the report noted.

On Monday afternoon, the 14-year-old boy accused in the killing appeared in Mahoning County Juvenile Court for his first hearing, which was before Magistrate Karen Romanno-Melone.

He had no attorney present, and no plea was required during the hearing. A “denial,” the juvenile equivalent of not guilty, was entered on his behalf.

Romanno-Melone said an attorney will be appointed on the boy’s behalf before his next hearing, a pretrial hearing before Mahoning County Juvenile Court Judge Theresa Dellick, within the next 10 days. The boy’s family can hire their own lawyer also, she noted.

The boy was ordered held in detention in the Martin P. Joyce Juvenile Justice Center.

The criminal complaint in his case accuses the boy of purposely causing the death of the victim and having a weapon at the time of the murder or “used it to facilitate the offense.”

The complaint charges the boy with a specification alleging he is a Serious Youthful Offender under an Ohio statute that states that if he is adjudicated a delinquent child for committing an act that would be aggravated murder or murder if committed by an adult, the child would be eligible for the Mandatory Serious Youthful Offender specification for being 14 or 15 years old at the time the offense.

The magistrate advised the boy that his charges make him eligible to serve prison time as an adult if convicted.

A court official suggested to the magistrate that the boy be assessed for drug and alcohol issues and provided counseling “while he is here” in the juvenile system.

When the hearing was over, the boy’s mother was invited to hug him before he was taken back to the juvenile detention facility. She hugged him, saying, “I love you so much. You’ll be OK. Oh, my God, Jesus, help us.”

Another specification in the boy’s criminal complaint alleges the boy was the owner and / or possessor of a Glock handgun, which was “contraband and/or property derived from or through the commission or facilitation of the offense and or was an instrumentality the offender used or intended to use in the commission of the offense.” The specification seeks forfeiture of the weapon.

FRIDAY SHOOTING

The man who was fatally shot Friday morning on East Lucius Avenue was found in the front yard of a home in the 500 block after calling 911 from his cell phone and stating that he had been shot, according to a Youngstown police report.

When an officer arrived for the 5:09 a.m. 911 call, the victim was unresponsive. Officers administered life-saving measures until ambulance personnel arrived.

He was taken to St. Elizabeth Youngstown Hospital in critical condition, the report states.

Detectives and crime lab personnel handled the investigation, but no arrests were mentioned in the report, and attempts to obtain additional information from Youngstown police detectives Monday were not successful.

Another police report from early Friday on East Lucius Avenue states that gunfire was reported by a 911 caller, who said he was shot at. Officers spoke with the person, who said he was walking from his home in the 100 block of East Lucius at 1:14 a.m. when he heard someone say “Hey, you.” He saw a black sedan and thought it had about four people in it, but it was hard for him to tell because he was not wearing his contact lenses, the report states.

He heard about four shots and ran south toward Auburndale Avenue, and the vehicle left the area. He said he thinks they were shooting at him. Police did not locate any spent bullet shell casings.

The previous homicide before the two deaths on Sunday was the 2:20 a.m., March 3 shooting death of Deandre Stores, 30, in the parking lot of the Vibez Bar, 914 W. Midlothian Blvd.

Police were called there for a report of a shooting in the parking lot. They found hundreds of people in the lot and a nearby area and were directed to Stores, who appeared to have been shot several times, according to a Youngstown Police press release.

Ambulance personnel arrived and attempted life saving measures, but Stores died, the release states.

The Youngstown Police Department asks that anyone with tips or information on the cases call Crime Stoppers at 330-746-2583 or 330-742-8973 with information or tips, which may be left anonymously.