YOUNGSTOWN — Elijah J. May, 18, was indicted Thursday on charges of murder, voluntary manslaughter, felonious assault and several other charges in the April 11 killing of Ray’Mon Sims, 22, on the North Side. May and Sims are both of Youngstown.

Police initially charged May in Youngstown Municipal Court with voluntary manslaughter and having weapons while not allowed. But the facts of the case made it appropriate for May to face a murder charge, said Mike Yacovone, county assistant prosecutor.

If May is convicted of the murder charge and an attached gun specification, he could get 18-years-to-life in prison. Other charges he faces could add more prison time.

May is alleged to have fired an AR-15 rifle 18 times outside his home on Tod Lane toward the car in which Sims and another man were traveling after a physical fight among the men. Multiple neighbors witnessed the fighting and fled as the gunfire erupted, one witness told The Vindicator.

Several homes on the opposite side of Tod Lane from the fight were hit by stray bullets, according to police reports. None of the neighbors were injured.

Shots also were fired at May, but prosecutors do not believe this is a self-defense case, Yacovone said. A Youngstown police report stated that the incident began with 911 calls for a fight with gunfire. It added that “multiple people were fighting, and people were shooting.”

One woman whose home was in the middle of the shooting called it a “gunfight in front of her residence.”

In addition to murder, May was indicted on voluntary manslaughter and involuntary manslaughter in Sims’ death. Yacovone said those are lesser offenses a jury also would be able to consider.

Sims collapsed in the 400 block of Crandall Avenue after being shot in the 4500 block of Tod Lane, police said. Sims and another man were in a car at the time of the gunfire. They drove several blocks away from Tod Lane before their car went through a yard and hit the front porch of a home on Alameda Avenue.

Sims and the other man got out and went to the next street over — Crandall Avenue — on foot, where Sims collapsed. Ambulance workers gave him medical care, but Sims was pronounced dead at nearby St. Elizabeth Youngstown Hospital.

The man with Sims is the victim in at least one of the charges.

May also is indicted on violating a protection order because he was convicted of burglary as a juvenile. So even though the protected person was not involved in the shooting, the protection order did not allow May to possess a firearm, Yacovone said.

May is expected to be arraigned in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court in the coming weeks. He remains in the Mahoning County jail.

Sims graduated from Youngstown East High School and attended Youngstown State University, according to his obituary. He enjoyed listening to music, shopping, traveling, fine dining and playing basketball and football. Most of all, he enjoyed spending time with his family and friends, his obituary stated.