Allen Tisdale on Friday admitted his involvement in the 2021 shooting death of 20-year-old Brycen Douglas in East Liverpool, pleading guilty to a lesser charge of involuntary manslaughter and complicity for a weapons charge.

As part of the plea agreement, he’s required to “provide complete and truthful information and testimony on behalf of the state in the continuing investigation of the death of Brycen Douglas and prosecution of any and all persons involved including but not limited to Elvin EJ Tisdale.”

Sentencing was set for 9:20 a.m. July 21, the date originally set for a final status hearing in the case against Allen. The jury trial scheduled for July 29 has been cancelled.

The two Tisdales, Elvin, 35, Newell, W.Va., and Allen, 25, Lisbon, were indicted together in 2023, with each of them charged with aggravated murder, murder and firearm specifications for allegedly killing Douglas, who was found shot to death on the front porch of a Pennsylvania Avenue home in East Liverpool on July 15, 2021.

Elvin was also charged with having weapons while under disability due to being prohibited from having or using a gun to a previous felony conviction.

Originally, they were being tried together, but earlier this year, Columbiana County Common Pleas Court Judge Megan Bickerton agreed to separate them and set separate hearings and trials for both.

The case against Allen had been scheduled for an interim status conference on Friday, but instead, county Assistant Prosecutor Steve Yacovone said there were negotiations between the prosecution and Allen’s defense team of Charley Kidder and Robert Bricker and a plea agreement had been reached.

Allen pleaded guilty to a first-degree felony of involuntary manslaughter, which is a lesser-included offense for the original murder charge, and a second-degree felony prosecutor’s information charge of complicity to improperly discharging a firearm at or into a habitation.

Yacovone said he’ll be recommending a sentence of at least 10 years for the involuntary manslaughter and eight years for the complicity charge, but to be served concurrently, for a possible total of 10 years. The charge of aggravated murder and the firearm specifications will be dismissed.

During her exchange with the defendant when she questioned him about his intentions and the rights he was giving up with a plea, Bickerton explained the possible sentences he could face, acknowledging that both charges require indefinite sentences, with a minimum maximum and a maximum equal to half of the minimum. The involuntary manslaughter charge carries a maximum of 11 to 16 and a half years in prison, while the complicity charge carries a maximum of eight to 12 years.

Members of the victim’s family were present in the courtroom for the plea.

After the hearing, county Assistant Prosecutor Tammie Riley Jones said they spoke to the victim’s family about the proposed plea agreement prior to the hearing.

“They understood the agreement being made,” she said.

Allen Tisdale is being housed at the Mahoning County jail while Elvin EJ Tisdale is being housed in the Columbiana County jail, both under $1 million cash or surety bonds.

A final status hearing in the case against Elvin EJ Tisdale remains set for 11 a.m. June 16, with the jury trial set for 9 a.m. June 24 before Bickerton. A subpoena has already been requested to be served for Allen Tisdale to testify in that case. Elvin EJ Tisdale is represented by defense attorneys Coleen Hall Dailey and Paul Conn.

Also related to the case, a jury trial remains set at 9 a.m. Sept. 30 for Travis Kidder, 25, Bradshaw Avenue, East Liverpool, who’s charged with obstructing official business, a third-degree felony, for allegedly lying to investigators related to the Douglas shooting death.

An interim status hearing remains set for 9:40 a.m. June 16, with a final status hearing set for 9:20 a.m. Sept. 22. Kidder remains out of jail on a $50,000 recognizance bond.

The indictment alleged that he did on July 22, 2021 with purpose to hinder the discovery, apprehension, prosecution, conviction, or punishment of another for a crime, or to assist another to benefit from the commission of a crime, communicate false information to any person, noting that the crime committed was aggravated murder, murder or a felony of the first or second degree.

mgreier@mojonews.com