An Ohio resident faces charges for allegedly shooting his roommate, who was also a longtime friend of his father, during a New Year’s Day dispute about a dog in their shared residence.
According to a statement from the Ashland County Prosecutor’s Office, authorities responded to a call at the home on Thursday afternoon, where they discovered 61-year-old John “Lefty” Grehn deceased with apparent gunshot wounds.
Robert Palermo was arraigned in court on Friday, facing an aggravated murder charge related to Grehn’s death, as reported by the Ashland Source.
Ashland County Prosecutor Chris Tunnell explained that the conflict arose because of a disagreement over Grehn’s dog being permitted inside the home, which was owned by Palermo’s father.
Tunnell noted that John Palermo and Grehn had been friends for many years. He further detailed that the altercation began as a heated exchange, during which Palermo retrieved a firearm from a secured box upstairs, then returned to escalate the confrontation.
The prosecutor said the argument began as a verbal spat before Palermo went upstairs, retrieved a gun from a locked box, then returned and “reignited the argument.”
Then, Tunnell said, Palermo shot Grehn multiple times. John Palermo called 911 to report the shooting.
Tunnell said in his statement that Ashland County “is and always will be a safe place to live” and that the focus should not be “on the negative aspects of one human’s poor choices.”
Palermo was given a $2 million bond in Friday’s court session.
