Key Takeaways
- Layzon Breland, 26, was shot multiple times in his home after an altercation with an armed man.
- Breland tried to escape upstairs but was followed and shot, despite returning fire.
- Yasim McDonald, 27, was identified as the shooter and faces charges of criminal homicide and tampering with evidence.
- Rapid DNA tests linked McDonald to blood found at the scene, and he remains in custody pending a preliminary hearing.
- Breland’s mother has set up a fundraiser to cover his funeral and memorial costs.
Estimated reading time: 3 minutes
COOLBAUGH TOWNSHIP, PA — A Monroe County man died inside his own home last week after another man forced his way in and chased him upstairs at gunpoint, according to Pocono Mountain Regional Police.
Police say Layzon Breland, 26, of Tobyhanna, was shot multiple times, including a fatal wound to the head, in the upstairs bedroom of his Chelsea Circle home on June 18. Officers were dispatched just before 8 p.m. and found him gravely wounded. He died at the scene despite efforts to save him.
Investigators say the confrontation began outside, with a physical fight between Breland and another man in the front yard. Breland tried to retreat into the house. The other man forced the front door back open and came in after him, now armed with a handgun, police say.
Breland ran upstairs to his bedroom to get away. According to police, the armed man followed him up the stairs and started firing. Breland grabbed a handgun of his own and fired back. Both men were struck. Breland did not survive.
There is nothing triumphant about this story. A young man is dead. But the detail I keep returning to is that Breland had to reach for a firearm stored in his bedroom while an armed attacker was already coming up the stairs after him. Those few seconds are everything.
This is about as clear a case as I can point to for carrying on your person instead of leaving a gun in a nightstand or a drawer across the room. A firearm you have to run to is one you may never reach. The one you are carrying is the one that is actually there the moment someone forces his way through your door.
The man who fled left a blood trail running from the bedroom, through the house, and out to the street, investigators say. Roughly half an hour later, a white vehicle dropped a wounded man at a hospital in Scranton.
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That man was identified as Yasim McDonald, 27, of Scranton. Police say he had a gunshot wound to the arm and matched the description witnesses gave. Detectives recovered a projectile from him consistent with the 9mm casings found in Breland’s bedroom.
The office of Monroe County District Attorney Mike Mancuso says rapid DNA testing linked McDonald to blood from the fleeing shooter’s trail, with a full forensic report still pending. The white Kia, rented by McDonald’s girlfriend the day before, allegedly showed dried blood and signs of an attempted cleanup.
McDonald has been charged with criminal homicide and tampering with evidence. The charges were approved by Assistant District Attorney Chad Martinez and filed after an investigation by Detectives Donald Scarfo and Zachary Scheetz. He was arraigned and remains in custody, with a preliminary hearing set for later this month. The charges are allegations, and McDonald has not been convicted.
Breland’s mother has set up a fundraiser to help cover funeral and memorial costs for her son.
