May homicides: six of seven victims African Americans
During a recent gun control lobbying event in Harrisburg, a tearful teen shooting victim told legislators people are dying every day in Pittsburgh from gun violence. While there were actually 25 days last month without a fatal shooting, for her and countless other families torn apart by Black-on-Black homicide, the trauma never goes away. It is a daily experience. The New Pittsburgh Courier publishes the names of the city’s shooting victims in the hope that we as a community will soon take a stand against the unnecessary, senseless violence plaguing our African American communities.
MAY 2—Dwayne Lamar Tolbert-McGhee, a 29-year-old Black male, was fatally wounded outside the Muhammad Mosque 22 in Wilkinsburg and died about three hours later at UPMC Presbyterian Hospital—but not before he and a witness who heard the shooting while in the mosque identified the shooter. Delvante Thompson, 30, of Penn Hills was arrested May 26 and charged with homicide. He awaits trial in the Allegheny County jail.
MAY 5—Stephen Drake Jr., a 47-year-old Black male, was fatally shot as he was driving his motorcycle on Fifth Avenue in Shadyside. Drake was a veteran anti-violence advocate, working with Richard Garland at the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health’s Violence Prevention Initiative. The investigation into his death continues. Anyone with information is urged to call Pittsburgh Homicide detectives at 412-323-7800.
MAY 7—Chad Rock, a 34-year-old White male, was fatally shot during a home invasion at his house on Terrace Drive in McKees Rocks. Allegheny County detectives said they are looking for three Black males who bound Rock’s two children and a female with zip ties and demanded money and drugs. A second male occupant was also shot in the robbery. Detectives hope Rock’s surveillance cameras will help identify the killers. Anyone with information is urged to call the Allegheny County tip line at 1-833-255-8477.
MAY 9—Taeshaun Caldwell, an 18-year-old Black male, was found fatally shot lying between two homes in the 500 block of Lowell Street near Shetland Avenue in Larimer. Police have not yet identified a suspect. The investigation is ongoing. Anyone with information is urged to call 412-323-7800.
MAY 9—Lawrence Brown, a 26-year-old Black male, was gunned down in an apparent drive-by shooting on Bedford Avenue in the Hill District that left several cars riddled with bullet holes. He was pronounced dead at the scene. The investigation is ongoing. Police are asking anyone with information to call 412-323-7800.
MAY 25—Matthew Anthony Zinnermon, a 32-year-old Black male from Chesapeake, Va., was shot multiple times on Park Hill Drive in East Hills. Police have arrested and charged 24-year-old Leonard Bernard Hill of Sheraden with the shooting. He awaits trial in the Allegheny County Jail.
MAY 27—Darrell Williams, a 48-year-old Black male, was found shot multiple times inside his home in the 500 Block of Farnsworth Avenue in Clairton. He died later at Jefferson Memorial Hospital. Police have no motive and are asking anyone with information to call the county tip line at 1-833-255-8477.
April Homicides (7)
APRIL 1—Meliek Rashad Hemmingway, a 22-year-old Black male, was found by Pittsburgh police lying in Conemaugh in East Hills Easter morning with a gunshot wound to the chest. He was pronounced dead at the scene. Police have since released surveillance video of a man riding a bicycle away from the scene and are asking for help identify the individual, who they are calling a person of interest. Anyone with information is asked to call homicide detectives at 412-323-7800.
APRIL 4—James Clayton Westover, a 56-year-old White male, was fatally shot in the driveway of his home by one-time friend, 62-year-old Lex Miller. Ohio Township police responding to call of shots fired, encountered Miller at the scene. After a brief exchange of gunfire, Miller shot himself in the head. The Allegheny County Coroner has ruled it a murder-suicide.
APRIL 7—Aaron David James, a 29-year-old Black male, was found fatally shot in an alley behind the 1300 block of Franklin Street in Wilkinsburg. As yet, police have not identified a suspect or motive. Anyone with information is asked to all county detectives at 1-833-255-8477.
APRIL 11—Dolores Williams, a 39-year-old Black female, was found fatally shot in the head in her Stowe Township home. Her teen daughter was also shot but was stabilized at a local hospital. Police immediately began searching for 42-year-old Jamar Allen, who was also wanted for the home-invasion assault of a minor in March. He was found later the same day in his car in Homewood, dead from a self-inflicted gunshot.
APRIL 11—The skeletal remains of Zackery Sheets, a 20-year-old White male missing for more than a year, were found by a hiker walking through the woods off Milltown Road in Penn Hills. The coroner’s office ruled the death a homicide based on information gleaned from the investigation into his disappearance, but it has not released an official cause of death. Anyone with information about Sheets’ death or disappearance is asked to call 1-833-255-8477.
APRIL 14—Shawn William Dillard, a 27-year-old Black male from Erie, was fatally shot in the head in the Hill District. City police found him in the 1800 block of Cliff Street. He was taken to Mercy Hospital where he was pronounced dead. Police have yet to identify a suspect. Anyone with information is asked to call 412-323-7800.
APRIL 26—Phillip Daniel Pryor, a 27-yeqr-old Black male, was gunned down after leaving his girlfriend’s house in Homestead en route to his grandmother’s house. Police said, as yet, they have no motive or suspect. Anyone with information is asked to call 1-833-255-8477.
March Homicides (6)
MARCH 11—Brenda Kay Zelenski, a 59-year-old White female, died in a Pittsburgh hospital as the result of knife wounds she received during an altercation with her husband, also dead, in Indiana County, March 3.
MARCH 16—Juan Green, a 31-year-old Black male, was fatally shot after getting into an argument outside Becker’s Café on Olivia Street in the McKees Rocks Bottoms. Police arrested 33-year-old Tyree Davis less than a day later at a home in Sheraden. Davis is awaiting trial in the Allegheny County Jail.
MARCH 18—Tyrone Noaks, a 28-year-old Black male, died as a result of wounds he received when he was shot in McKees Rocks, Feb. 3. The investigation is ongoing. Anyone with information is asked to call Allegheny County Homicide Detectives at 412-473-1300.
MARCH 19—Shawn Brandon, a 22-year-old White male, was fatally shot at the corner of Eccles Street and Marengo Street on the South Side Slopes. Witnesses said he was leaning into the driver’s side window of a car when he was shot. He identified his killer as 21-year-old Amasa Camp. Police arrested Camp three days later. He is awaiting trial in the Allegheny County Jail.
MARCH 24—Walter Smith, an 83-year-old White male, died after a tenant he was trying to evict from his West Homestead property struck him in the head and shoved him down a flight of stairs. Dominic Anicola, 57, was arrested and awaits trial in the Allegheny County Jail.
MARCH 26—Hasan Ishmael Abdul-Rabb, a 24-year-old Black male, was fatally shot in the 3200 block of Ward Street in Oakland in an apparent drug deal turned robbery. Shayne Craighead, 22, and Velmon Dowling, 21, were arrested after leading police on a chase in the victim’s rented car. Both are in the Allegheny County Jail.
February Homicides (8)
FEB. 4—Joseph Secora, a 39-year-old White male who allegedly had mental health issues, was fatally shot while trying to break into his sister’s house in Springdale. The victim’s nephew, 21-year-old James Cain, shot Secora once. He fled across Butler Road and collapsed between some houses. He was pronounced dead at the scene. No charges will be filed.
FEB. 7—Lewis Dunning, a 64-year-old Black male from Uniontown, was found by Pittsburgh police lying in the middle of Paulsen Street in Lincoln-Larimer. He had been shot once in the head and was pronounced dead at the scene. A second individual, who police have not identified, was also found at the scene suffering multiple gunshot wounds. He was taken to the hospital and last listed in stable condition. The investigation continues. Police are asking anyone with information to call 412-323-7800. Callers may remain anonymous.
FEB. 10—Denard A. Burton, a 29-year-old Black male, was discovered by Pittsburgh police lying on the snow-covered sidewalk of the 7200 block of Stranahan Street in Homewood shot multiple times. He was pronounced dead at the scene. Police have not yet identified a suspect. The investigation is ongoing. Police are asking anyone with information to call 412-323-7800. Callers may remain anonymous.
FEB. 11—Mark Daniels, a 39-year-old Black male, was fatally shot by Pittsburgh police Gino A. Macioce and an unnamed recruit during a foot chase in which the officers said he fired at them twice. Allegheny County police said a .40 caliber handgun was recovered at the scene and is being tested. Daniels’ family said he didn’t own or carry a gun. They have called for the release of surveillance video and Shotspotter records that police said shows some of the pursuit. Neither officer was wearing a body camera.
FEB. 16—Andre Lee, a 20-year-old Black male, was found by McKees Rocks police after they received a call about a shooting on Ella Street. He was taken to Allegheny General Hospital, where he died from multiple gunshot wounds. Allegheny County police are investigating. Anyone with information may anonymously call the toll-free Police Tipline at 833-255-8477.
FEB. 22—Keiauna Lynette Davis, a 27-year-old Black female, was fatally shot while walking home along Laketon Road in Wilkinsburg when a co-worker and two accomplices robbed her for her tax refund. Dane James Taylor and Laya Alana Whitley, both 21, and Kaijin Xavier Scott, 23, are in custody awaiting trial.
FEB. 26—Steven Pariser, a 71-year-old White male, and John Robert Van Dyke, a 54-year-old White male, were both allegedly killed by 58-year-old Vincent Smith after an argument over marijuana led to a fight. Smith then set fire to the Swissvale building where the killings took place. He was rescued by firefighters and arrested. He awaits trial in the Allegheny County jail.
FEB. 28—Mia Green, a 27-year-old Black female, was found by Pittsburgh police behind a home in the 7300 block of Hamilton Avenue in Homewood shot multiple times. She was pronounced dead at UPMC Presbyterian a short time later. Green had no children and no criminal record. Police are asking anyone with information to call 412-323-7800. Callers may remain anonymous.
January Homicides (11)
JAN. 9—Diron Lamonn Hopwood, a 25-year-old Black male, was found fatally shot by police after they received multiple 911 calls, lying in the 1400 block of N. Murtland Street in Homewood. He had been struck several times. Police have not identified a suspect. The investigation continues.
JAN. 12—Shevall Davidson, a 24-year-old Black male, was fatally shot multiple times shortly after he left the J & S Food Mart on Seventh Street in Duquesne. Pittsburgh Crime Stoppers has offered a reward of up to $1,000 for information leading to an arrest. Callers may remain anonymous, 412-255-8477.
JAN. 17—Louise Lewis, a 73-year-old White female, was found fatally shot on the porch of her Clairton home in what Allegheny County detectives said was a murder-suicide. Her 72-year-old husband Robert was found inside the home with a self-inflicted gunshot to the head.
JAN. 17—Tiffany Korbelic, a 36-year-old White female, was found fatally shot in a home in on West Elizabeth Street in Hazelwood along with 55-year-old Raymond Furlong, in what county detective also said was also a murder-suicide. Furlong, they said shot her then turned the gun on himself.
JAN. 18—Anthony Bullock-Fields, a 29-year-old Black male, was shot and then run over at the intersection of Jucunda and Amanda Streets in Pittsburgh’s Knoxville neighborhood. Pittsburgh police have not yet identified a suspect. The investigation continues.
JAN. 20—Albert Boxley, a 30-year-old Black male, was found shot multiple times at the intersection of Mullins and Dickson Streets on Pittsburgh’s North Side. The shooting was captured on surveillance video, and with the help of an eye-witness, police arrested and charged 27-year-old Louis Campbell with the killing. He is currently in the Allegheny County Jail.
JAN. 22—Shayne Henderson, a 21-year-old Black male, was found fatally shot in the basement of an apartment building on Everton Street in Pittsburgh’s Lincoln-Lemington neighborhood. Henderson’s was the third fatal shooting on Everton in as many months. Police have not named a suspect. The investigation continues
JAN. 28—Craig Rhodes-Mitchell, a 24-year-old Black male, was found with multiple gunshot wounds in a home in the 1300 block of Centennial Street in McKeesport. County detectives have yet to identify a suspect and are asking anyone with information to call the toll-free county Tipline at 833-255-8477.
JAN. 28—Robert Monti, a 42-year-old White male, was found by police shot multiple in the 1200 block of Broadway Avenue in Stowe Township. He died a short time later at Ohio Valley Hospital. County detectives have yet to identify a suspect and are asking anyone with information to call the toll-free county Tipline at 833-255-8477.
JAN. 28—Devlen Prosdocimo, a 24-year-old White male, was shot multiple times, after being lured into a drug deal robbery on Wilner Drive in East Hills. Video shows, 17-year-old Malik “Lil Chief Keif” Johnson shooting Prosdocimo several times after he attempted to flee the robbery. Johnson is in the Allegheny County Jail.
JAN. 29—Tyqueon Goins, a 20-year-old Black male, was found shot multiple times in a car on Meadows Street in Larimer. Though Pittsburgh police spokeswoman Alicia George said initial reports indicated the shooting “may be gang related.” police have not yet identified a suspect. Anyone with information is asked to call homicide detectives at 412-323-7800.
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