Coroner’s office IDs boy killed April 1 as Charles Pullen Jr.
YOUNGSTOWN — The Mahoning County Coroner’s Office has identified the 17-year-old male was shot to death April 1 on East Judson Avenue on the South Side as Charles Pullen Jr.
The coroner’s press release states that the office was notified of Pullen’s death at 10:26 p.m. April 1. He was the victim of a shooting, the release states.
An autopsy was conducted at the Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner’s Office. The incident remains under investigation by the Youngstown Police Department and the Mahoning County Coroner’s Office.
Youngstown police have said that they were called to that location for a ShotSpotter notification, which alerts Youngstown police to gunfire on the South Side.
Shortly after the ShotSpotter notification, police learned that a 17-year-old was taken by private vehicle to St. Elizabeth Youngstown Hospital with at least one gunshot wound, Youngstown spokesman Andy Resnick said. The boy was later pronounced deceased.
The 100 block of East Judson Avenue is close to Southern Boulevard. The incident began at 9:55 p.m., according to a Youngstown police report. It states that officers actually responded to the ShotSpotter notification at a home in the 200 block of Potomac Avenue, which is near the 100 block of East Judson.
When officers got there, a group of people was outside of the home. The report labeled the incident a “murder.” It is the second homicide of the year in the city.
FIRST HOMICIDE
The first homicide this year was the March 20 shooting death of Terrance Simms Jr., 24, outside of a barber shop on Canfield Road near Glenwood Avenue on Youngstown’s South Side.
A city news release stated that the shooting took place in front of 719 Canfield Road. A Youngstown Police Department report gave the time of the call as 12:04 p.m. and stated that officers responded to the location and saw a customer of the business, identified in the report as an “involved person,” standing on the front porch of the barber shop.
The person “pointed to the ground” at the victim, the report states. It was later clarified that the victim was in the parking lot.
The report noted that other officers arrived at the scene, and an officer identified all of the people that were inside the barber shop, calling them “involved persons.” The report suggested that there were about five “involved persons” in the barber shop.
No arrests or charges in the case have been announced.
Resnick confirmed that officers were called to the barber shop for a report of several gunshots and found the victim. Several bullet shell casings were found in a lot close to Glenwood Avenue.
Police stated on their Facebook page they were looking for information regarding a light gray Dodge Challenger R/T Scat Pack in connection with the homicide. They asked anyone who recognized the car or has any information to contact YPD at 330-747-7911.
Youngstown had 13 homicides in 2025, the last one of the year being Nov. 10 — about 130 days before the Simms homicide.

