Murdered man's family raises cash reward to encourage leads in case

May 20—JOHNSTOWN, Pa. — To get his life on the right path, Lionel Mickens took the hard road over most of his 61 years, said his brother, Mitchell Mickens.

Lionel Mickens spent more than a decade in state prison back in the 1990s and struggled with substance abuse well into his 50s, his brother said.

After he found sobriety, it was a story he realized needed to be shared — but didn't want to repeat — so he wrote a theatrical play about his life that was slated to debut at the State Theater of Johnstown later this year.

"He finally had a direction in life and he wanted a fresh start," Mitchell Mickens said. "His goal was to do his play, sell his house and move to Florida to be closer to family."

But Lionel Mickens' plans for a second act were cut short late last month. According to police, someone entered his home in Johnstown's Hornerstown section and fatally shot him, his deaf pitbull Daniel, and a 36-year-old Johnstown woman, Britney Rummell.

Lionel Mickens' family plans to do whatever it takes to help Johnstown detectives solve the case. They have donated $2,100 toward a reward for tips leading to the arrest and conviction of his killer or killers.

The move raises the total reward offered by Cambria County Crime Stoppers to $3,500.

"I understand the street code — there's people who don't want to be seen as a snitch," Mitchell Mickens said. "For years, my brother even lived by that code. But once the violence comes to your doorstep ... once it affects you, you see things differently."

Cambria County Crime Stoppers was established more than 20 years ago to help authorities solve challenging cases, including drug crimes and homicides.

The group initially offered its standard $1,000 reward for tips on the Pine Street double homicide, which led Lionel Mickens' family to reach out about ways to help, Crime Stoppers founder Gary Martin said.

Martin credited the family for being proactive. Over the years, larger rewards have sometimes turned out to be difference-makers for unsolved cases, he said.

Anonymity is often the key. Martin said Crime Stoppers has stood by its pledge for years, allowing people to stay anonymous through the process, even dropping off reward money at agreed-upon locations in brown paper bags to protect witnesses' desire to protect their identities.

He recalled cases in which people have anonymously turned in their own relatives after violent crimes were committed.

Sometimes, it takes a few crucial tips to solve a case.

Someone who might not know who committed the act, but had a description of a vehicle they saw fleeing the scene or its license plate number, might end up getting a 50-50 split with another tipster who had a crucial description of a person they saw fleeing the scene, Martin said.

"Sometimes it takes more than one piece of information to solve the crime, but in those cases we split the money, which is why we tell people the reward is up to $3,500," Martin said.

The reward money is managed by the Community Foundation for the Alleghenies, and those who wish to help law enforcement officials solve local crimes can donate toward the cause — or toward the reward for any specific crime, Martin said.

"It helps in a lot of ways, because once that reward money goes up, people who commit those crimes can't rest as easy. They know people are looking for them," he said.

Mitchell Mickens said his family won't rest either until his brother's killer is behind bars.

"Whoever did it, I think they knew his patterns," he said. "They'd probably been to his home before — and they got him before he had a chance to defend himself. And if they could bring themselves to kill two people and a deaf dog, they'll do it again if someone doesn't stop them. ... It will be someone else's family (who is) forced to deal with it next."

All the Mickens family has now is memories and stories.

Growing up, Mitchell Mickens said he idolized his brother, who was six years older. They grew up on Pine Street, in the same block as the home where Lionel Mickens' body was found.

Johnstown police have been asking members of the public to contact them about gunfire they may have heard in the Hornerstown neighborhood between April 27 and 29 and any other suspicious activity they might have witnessed.

Police Capt. Chad Miller credited the Mickens family for being proactive by increasing the reward to raise awareness about the case.

As of Thursday afternoon, investigators had made no arrests in the investigation and had no updates to offer. They, too, have acknowledged that the shootings weren't random.

Mickens said that can't be the end to his brother's story.

"I've heard people saying it won't get solved, but I'm never gonna stop looking," Mitchell Mickens said. "I'm going to keep spreading the word about my brother, calling the police for updates and posting whatever I have to on Facebook until his killer is arrested — and I'm hopeful that will happen."

Cambria County Crime Stoppers' phone number is 1-800-548-7500.