Homicide Victim Identified
Erie – Authorities released the identity of Erie’s first homicide victim of 2025. Coroner Lyell Cook revealed that 20-year-old Jalea Turner died at UPMC Hamot after being struck in the head by a bullet shortly after midnight on New Year’s Day; she had been declared braindead that same afternoon. Jalea was leaving a New Year’s Eve party when she was shot by an unknown assailant on the 900 block of West 19th Street at about 12:37 a.m. New Year’s Day; a man who was also shot was released from UPMC Hamot after treatment for a leg wound. Anyone with information should contact Detective Sergeant Ronald Pilarski at (814)720-1229 or Detective David Madurski at (814)720-1508.

Hospital Closes ER, Stops Accepting Patients
Sharon – Sharon Regional Hospital stopped accepting emergency patients at 7:00 a.m. on Sunday morning. The hospital stopped performing elective surgeries the week before and it was reported that inpatients had been moved to other facilities and there were no patients inside the hospital by the time the ER closed. On New Year’s Day, it was announced that an agreement in principle was reached with Tenor Health Systems to keep the hospital from closing permanently, but that can be a drawn-out process and it’s currently unclear if or when it will reopen.