Allen Pierce May

Allen Pierce-May, a 23-year-old man, was shot and killed on January 22, 2024, in Youngstown, Ohio. The shooting took place around 1 p.m. at the intersection of East Evergreen Avenue and Erie Street on the city's South Side. Police believed the incident occurred during a drug deal that had been planned in advance.

According to detectives, text messages between Pierce-May and another man, Jules Freeman, showed the two were arranging a drug transaction for the day of the shooting. The texts indicated that Freeman had agreed to drive to Youngstown for an additional $200. Investigators also found that Freeman had saved Pierce-May’s address in his Google Maps application.

Jules Freeman, a 22-year-old from New Philadelphia, was identified as the suspect. He was charged with murder, felonious assault, involuntary manslaughter, and discharge of a firearm at or into a habitation or across a roadway. Freeman was later released on bond while awaiting trial.

From early in the legal process, Freeman’s attorneys indicated their intention to argue that he had acted in self-defense. A detective testified during a preliminary hearing that Freeman had made the same claim when he was interviewed by police in New Philadelphia.

In January 2025, the case appeared in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court before Judge Maureen Sweeney. Prosecutors filed a motion arguing that Freeman should not be legally allowed to claim self-defense on two of the charges he faced: involuntary manslaughter and discharging a firearm across a roadway. An assistant prosecutor contended that state law does not permit a self-defense strategy for those specific offenses. Freeman’s attorney countered that no such prohibition exists in the law. The judge was expected to rule on the motion before the trial. As of that month, Freeman's trial was scheduled to begin on February 18, 2025.