YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – The Seventh District Court of Appeals has affirmed the convictions of
Allen Gene Torres stemming from a New Year’s Day 2024 shooting at Slick’s Bar and Grill.
Assistant Prosecutor Kristie Weibling successfully wrote a response to Torres’ appeal, leading to
the Court of Appeals upholding Torres’ convictions for Felonious Assault with an attached firearm
specification, Having Weapons While Under Disability, and Illegal Possession of a Firearm in a
Liquor Permit Premises. The victim was shot at close range after speaking with Torres and two
women inside the bar.
Torres entered no-contest pleas to the charges in September 2025. The following month, the
Mahoning County Court of Common Pleas accepted a jointly recommended sentence of five to six
years in prison, to be served concurrently with any sentence imposed in a related federal case.
On appeal, Torres argued that the trial court should have suppressed the victim’s identification of
him as the shooter. In a decision issued July 15, the appellate court rejected that argument and
affirmed the trial court’s judgment. The court noted that although the victim initially struggled to
describe the shooter’s clothing, he immediately and confidently identified Torres when shown
surveillance video from the bar. The Court held that while showing a single photograph of a
suspect to a witness is not the best police practice, there was no doubt about the reliability of the
identification that the witness made of Torres from video footage.
County Prosecutor Lynn Maro commended Assistant Prosecutor Weibling for her work defending
the convictions and thanked the officers and detectives of the Youngstown Police Department,
whose hard work helped bring Torres to justice.