Attempted homicide case awaits cellphone data

McLendon accused of shooting man on Sixth Avenue

HOLLIDAYSBURG -- An attempted homicide case remains on hold in Blair County Court for lack of access to information that may or may not be on the victim's cellphone.

"The cellphone evidence could show the whole picture of what was going on prior to the shooting," defense attorney Thomas M. Dickey said on behalf of Timothy McLendon, 28, of Pinecroft, who is charged with the Feb. 4, 2020, shooting of a man outside the man's residence on the 1700 block of Sixth Avenue.

Because the shooting occurred at 9:47 a.m. on a school day and was close to a school zone, the shooting drew attention within the city and prompted the Altoona Area School District to lock down access.

In court Friday during a pre-trial hearing, District Attorney Pete Weeks told Judge Jackie Bernard that efforts to secure information from the victim's cellphone could depend on software development.

The victim, Weeks said, provided police with what he thought were passwords to his cellphone but they haven't worked.

Altoona Police Detective David Dey, who has expertise in cellphone forensics, said he tried unsuccessfully to gain access to the cellphone contents and is hesitant to keep trying.

"If you type in the wrong password too many times," Dey testified, "the phone will reset and wipe all the data off the phone."

One possible option, Dey said, is to await further development of a software extraction program.

When Bernard asked about the potential for that program to successfully access the victim's cellphone, Dey said he was confident that access will be achieved.

Outside the court hearing, Dickey said he will look for his own expert to access the cellphone if the prosecution's efforts fail.

As for what the cellphone might contain, Dickey offered no specifics but said he suspects its contents will benefit the defense.

In a criminal complaint to support the criminal charges against McLendon, Altoona police reported that McLendon admitted to confronting the man after hearing a woman say that the man had raped her the night before.

Police said witnesses reported McLendon striking the man with a baseball bat and confronting him with a handgun that discharged a 9 mm round. The victim, struck in his neck by the bullet, was transported to UPMC Altoona for emergency surgery.

Bernard said Friday that she is interested in having McLendon's charges go to trial in June, depending on the progress with the extraction of information from the shooting victim's cellphone.

In addition to attempted homicide, Altoona police charged McLendon with aggravated assault with attempt to cause serious bodily injury, aggravated assault with attempt to cause bodily injury with a deadly weapon and recklessly endangering another person.

McLendon was in Blair County Prison until January when he was released on $300,000 unsecured bail.

Mirror Staff Writer Kay Stephens is at 814-946-7456.