In 2017, Allegheny County saw 110 homicides, five more than the previous year, with 58 occurring within the City of Pittsburgh. Of that countywide total, 78—five fewer than the year before—were African Americans. Anton Kemaev was not one of them. He was Russian, in town visiting friends when he was shot in the head while stuck in traffic six days before Christmas. He died nine days later, making him the last homicide victim in the county in 2017.
Here are the others:
DEC. 5—Allen Bailey and Richard Harris Jr., both 22-year-old Black males, were fatally shot in the stairwell of an apartment building in Lincoln-Lemington. A third Black male and a Black female were also wounded in the shooting. Police said they did not have a motive and have not yet identified a suspect. The investigation is ongoing.
DEC. 12—Jeffrey Thomas Nash, a 21-year-old Black Male from East Liberty, was found in his burning car on Fleet Street in Rankin. He had been fatally shot in the head. Police believe he had driven there to return a lost dog he had found. So far, police have not identified a suspect. The investigation continues.
DEC. 16—Mahlik Terin Cash, a 21-year-old Black male, was found lying in a blocked-off portion of Spring Street in McKeesport. He had been shot multiple times including a close-range shot to the head. Police have not revealed a motive, nor identified a suspect. The investigation continues.
DEC. 17—James Frederick Hines, a 21-year-old Black male, was fatally shot outside the Baldwin residential care home where he worked, but before dying, he named co-worker James King, 33, of the North Side, as his killer. The two were reportedly arguing before the shooting. As of this writing, he is still at large. He is Black, 5’7’’, 160 pounds and was last seen driving a tan Hyundai sedan with PA plate JNB 7404. Anyone with information on his whereabouts is urged to call the Allegheny County police tip line at 833-255-8477.
DEC. 20—Sandra Carter Douglas, 58, Shamira Staten, 21 and her 4-year-old daughter Chy’enne Manning, all Black females, died in a fire after 41-year-old Martell Smith of the North Side allegedly doused their porch of their Homewood house with gasoline and set it ablaze. Police said Smith set the blaze in retaliation for a Penn Hills bar fight he lost earlier in the night to Staten’s boyfriend (and Douglas’ son). Her husband, Cecil Douglas, was at the rear of the house when it went up, and escaped with only a broken ankle after jumping from a second-story window. Smith is charged with three counts of homicide, arson and endangerment. He is in the Allegheny County Jail.
DEC. 21—Antonio C. Gambill, a 20-year-old Black male, was shot while driving in Clairton and managed to drive to a friend’s home in Glassport where he called paramedics. He died at the hospital a few hours later. Police have no suspects. The investigation continues.
Dec. 23—Jeffrey Weiss, a 67-year-old White male, was fatally shot multiple times, during a home-invasion attack in Clairton. He died before paramedics could get him to the hospital. A 52-year-old female was also shot in the attack. Police have not yet identified a suspect. The investigation continues.
DEC. 26—Walter E. Stewart Jr., a 29-year-old Black male, and his 7-year-old son Jo Lawrence Stewart, were both fatally shot during an apparent drug deal gone bad that led to an exchange of gunfire. Three men; 30-year-old Jacqua Barnett, 26-year-old Brandon Barnett and 23-year-old Donavan Lee Wilson were charged with the killings.
DEC. 28—Anton Kamaev, a 35-year-old White male, died as a result of a bullet wound to the head suffered Dec. 19. Kemaev was the passenger in a white Nissan Altima driving on Second Avenue when someone opened fired on the car, according to police. The driver, who was not injured, drove across the Hot Metal Street Bridge and stopped on South Water Street, where officers responded. Pittsburgh Police have no suspects and are asking anyone with information to call 412-323-7161.
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