On May 26, 2024, 22-year-old Lay’Onte D. Hammonds was fatally shot outside the Twin City Elks Lodge on Staunton Street in Farrell, Pennsylvania. Police responding to reports of a single gunshot around 2:30 a.m. found Hammonds with a gunshot wound to the head; he was taken to UPMC Horizon and pronounced dead at 2:52 a.m.

Witnesses reported Hammonds was involved in a physical altercation with two individuals, one identified as 23-year-old Yishmael Lee of Sharon. Accounts state Hammonds had Lee in a hold when a third man intervened by punching Hammonds; as Hammonds released Lee, Lee allegedly shot him at close range. An arrest warrant charging Lee with first-degree murder and aggravated assault was issued; Lee was not in custody but was communicating with Farrell police to arrange his surrender.

This was the third shooting in Farrell within 48 hours, following a drive-by on Emerson Avenue and a shooting outside a convenience store on Indiana Avenue that left another man with life-threatening injuries. Hammonds was remembered by family and friends as spirited, with an infectious laugh; he graduated Farrell High School in 2019, became a certified welder in 2021 after attending Laurel Technical Institute, and worked at Jersey Mike’s.

If anyone witnessed the Elks Lodge incident or has information that could help investigators, please come forward.