On March 14 Shada Mahone was laid to rest following services at Unity Baptist Church in Braddock.
Mahone was one of five adults murdered, along with an unborn child, at a backyard cookout with friends and family in Wilkinsburg, March 9.
Tree of Hope founder Adrienne Young, who has been helping the families with funeral arrangements and expenses, said despite getting help from the state Victims Crime Compensation Fund for funeral expenses, the families of the victims needs additional help.
“Jessica (Shelton) now has five of the grandchildren with her,” said Young. “We gave her $200 just for food for them the other day, but she’s going to need a bigger place.”
Young also reiterated that Citizens Bank is accepting donations to its Shelton-Powell Fund at all branches, and urged people to donate.
The viewing for Tina Shelton is scheduled for Friday, March 18, from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Spriggs and Watson Funeral Home, 720 N. Lang, Pittsburgh, 15208. Services will be held the following day at 11 a.m. at Mulberry Community Church 601 Wallace Ave., Wilkinsburg, 15221.
The viewing for Jerry Shelton, Brittany Powell and Chanetta Powell will be Monday, March 21, 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Lighthouse Cathedral, 810 Fisher St., Pittsburgh 15210. Service will be held the following morning at 11 a.m.
All this pain and loss stems from last week’s attack on the family members as they wound down from a day of food, fun and camaraderie.
Standing at the scene, one day after the March 9 slaughter, Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen Zappala called the killings “brutal,” and “methodical.”
Saying he hadn’t seen this level of planning in a homicide in a long time, he described how one shooter with a .40 caliber pistol herded the victims towards the back door and his accomplice, who was waiting near a gate at the other end of the yard with a 7.62 millimeter semi-automatic rifle.
“It was an ambush, yeah. He pushed them,” he said. “The guy with the 40 starts over here, the casings are moving maybe five or six feet. The guy with the AK is by that fence, and he’s waiting. And he just pushed them toward the door and into the path of the rifle.
“And it wasn’t like he was just squeezing off shot after shot, it was very calculated, very methodical, and they were all head shots. So that concerns us too.”
Zappala said detectives had already discarded a number of theories and possible motives for the attack, but hinted that physical evidence at the scene may lead investigators to one of the two shooters.
Of the victims; Jerry Shelton, 35, Tina Shelton, 37, Brittany Powell, 27, seven-months pregnant Chanetta Powell, 25, and Shada Mahone, 26, Zappala said indications are that only one or two were the intended targets.
“Lamont Powell (who is hospitalized with wounds to the neck, chest, back and hand) may have been one of the targets,” he said. “The rest of the people would be fairly characterized as innocent.”
According to witnesses and the county police, the Shelton family and friends had a cookout that went on for most of the day, with as many as 15 people attending at any given time. There were about 10 people present, including children, when the attack took place around 11:30 p.m.
Jessica Shelton, mother of three of the victims, and aunt to the other two, said as a result of this attack, 11 children don’t have parents—and three were there when the shooting took place
“Brittany had previously lost a daughter, and now I have to tell her only surviving daughter that she not only lost a sister, but now her mother,” said Shelton.
“And the kids were there, that’s the saddest part. My youngest grandson Jeron, who is Chanetta’s oldest son, said, ‘Nana, there was fireworks outside. But then I seen mommy and them laying on the ground, so I didn’t want the bad men to get me so I ran upstairs.’”
County police Lt. Andrew Sherman appealed for anyone with information, or who was in the area of the 1300 block of Franklin Avenue and saw or heard anything, to call the Allegheny County Police Homicide unit at 412-473-1300. Callers can remain anonymous and can also reach the County Police via the county’s social media accounts.
The U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives has also set up a hotline and is offering a $20,000 reward for information leading to the shooters. They can be contacted at 1-800-283-4867, or by email at ATFTips@atf.gov.
(Send comments to cmorrow@newpittsburghcourier.com.)
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