Body found; juvenile to be charged in death

A juvenile is being charged in a fatal shooting after a man’s body was found in the city.

A juvenile is being charged in a fatal shooting after a body was found in Lorain

Police were called at 8:49 p.m. May 19 to the 3700 block of Denver Avenue after gunshots were heard in the area, according to a Lorain police news release.

Officers spoke with witnesses who heard the shots and provided a description of the possible suspects, and said that the shots were fired at two young men in the area. Those possible victims provided a different account, and said that the suspects fired into the air before fleeing southbound.

No one at the time reported there was a third victim who had also fled, the release said.

Officers flooded the area south of that location but were unable to locate any suspects.

On May 20, officers returned to the same area for a report of a found body.

Officers responded to a fence line behind some houses and located a man, Dimehz Phillips, 21, who had suffered a fatal gunshot wound, the release said.

Lorain County Sheriff’s deputies were already in the area attempting to find Phillips, who had been listed as missing by his family since the day before.

After speaking with the two victims from the night prior, they then admitted that their friend, Phillips, had also been present during the shooting incident but he fled east and they hadn’t heard from him since then, the release said.

Neither knew that Phillips had been shot, they said.

Further investigation determined that a juvenile boy had been one of the suspects during the shooting incident.

This juvenile was located and admitted to shooting toward Phillips and the others, the release said.

He was transported to the Lorain County Detention facility and is being charged in the shooting. The suspected weapon used in this incident was recovered.

This is an on-going investigation.