Two Men Charged With Homicide in Allentown, Both Have Previous Felony Convictions

Oct. 2, 2025

— Jeff Ward, Lehigh Valley News Briefs

Two Allentown men have been charged with homicide and other crimes after the shooting death of a man in the city.

License plate-reading technology helped Allentown police find the suspects. When they were arrested, they were in a vehicle with a woman and her one-year-old child.

Police responded at 5:42 p.m. — still daylight and just off Hamilton Street — to North Eighth Street. There they found the victim, 24-year-old Jahlik R. Colon of Temple, Pennsylvania, according to a statement from Lehigh County District Attorney Gavin P. Holihan and Allentown Police Chief Charles Roca. Temple is in Berks County.

Colon died from multiple gunshot wounds.

The suspects — Jason Gonzalez, 25, and Garfield McLean Jr., 30 — were caught in less than two hours.

Note: a statement from Allentown police said Garfield is from Reading.

Here’s the statement from Holihan and Roca:

OFFICE OF THE DISTRICT ATTORNEY
LEHIGH COUNTY COURTHOUSE
Gavin P. Holihan
District Attorney
Oct. 2, 2025

District Attorney Gavin P. Holihan and Allentown Police Chief Charles Roca announce two men are charged in a killing that occurred yesterday on North 8th Street.
Jason Gonzalez, DOB 5/21/2000, and Garfield McLean Jr., DOB 8/22/1995, both of Allentown; are charged with felony counts of Criminal Homicide, Criminal Conspiracy to Commit Criminal Homicide and Person Not to Possess a firearm. Gonzalez also faces a misdemeanor charge of Recklessly Endangering Another Person because there was a second victim placed at risk of death or serious bodily injury during the shooting.
Both were taken into custody less than two hours after the killing and are in Lehigh County Jail without bail. Both defendants are scheduled for preliminary hearings at 1:30 p.m. Oct. 8, 2025 in Lehigh County Central Court.
At 5:42 p.m. Oct. 1, Allentown Police were called to 115 N. 8th St. for a report of a shooting.
Upon arrival, police found the victim suffering from multiple gunshot wounds laying in the doorway of an apartment building at that location.
The victim has been identified as 24-year-old Jahlik R. Colon of Temple, Pennsylvania. His death was due to gunshot wounds and has been ruled a homicide by the Lehigh County Coroner’s Office.
At the time of the shooting, a man was standing next to Colon and was also nearly struck by gunfire.
During the course of the investigation, detectives reviewed all Allentown city surveillance cameras as well as Flock Safety license plate readers.
As a result, police were able to identify the vehicle involved as a 2001 silver Honda Accord. That car was registered to Gonzalez and was spotted in the area minutes before the homicide parked on Linden Street.
Surveillance cameras showed a man identified as Gonzalez get out of the car and run north on 8th Street toward the area of the homicide. Moments later, after the shooting, the same man is captured on surveillance cameras returning to the 2001 Honda, which then flees from the scene.
Also inside the car was a second man, later identified as McLean, who was the driver at the time the vehicle fled after the shooting.
Flock Safety license plate readers updated officers to the location of Gonzalez’s car and it was stopped on the 8th Street Bridge in Allentown at approximately 7:12 p.m.
During the traffic stop, both men were in the car as well as a 1-year-old child and the child’s mother. Officers found a 9mm handgun inside the car. When discovered, the 9mm handgun had one live round in the magazine which was consistent with the caliber and manufacturer of the rounds used in the shooting.
At this point, the female passenger of the vehicle has not been charged and has been released with her child.
Both men have previous felony convictions which ban them from owning or possessing a gun.
The investigation will continue and more information will be released as deemed necessary. At this point, there are no charges filed against any other individuals and no outstanding arrest warrants.
Critical to the investigation and the rapid identification of the suspects was the coordinated use of technology available to law enforcement and the combined efforts of the Allentown Police Department and the Lehigh County Homicide Task Force. Investigators also received cooperation from several members of the community impacted by this tragedy.
This case is being investigated by Allentown Police Detective Ariel Vidal and Lehigh County District Attorney’s Homicide Task Force Detective Kevin Mriss.
As in every criminal case, the fact that arrests have occurred or complaints have been filed are merely accusations; and the defendants, Jason Gonzalez and Garfield McLean Jr., are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.