Listen to the Exclusive New Pittsburgh Courier interview with Wilkinsburg mayor Marita Garrett and the Courier’s Rob Taylor Jr. by clicking the link below…
‘Not guilty’ verdict doesn’t sit well with Garrett
By Rob Taylor Jr., Courier Staff Writer
Wilkinsburg mayor Marita Garrett took the first swing, posting on Monday, Feb. 17, to her Facebook page a public rebuke of the Allegheny County Police Department and Allegheny County District Attorney’s Office, for, in her words, their “reckless handling” of the case involving the shooting deaths of five adults and an unborn baby at a backyard cookout, March 9, 2016, in her borough. A not guilty verdict was rendered in the homicide case against 33-year-old Cheron Shelton, Feb. 14.
Both County Police Superintendent Coleman McDonough and DA Stephen A. Zappala’s office swung back with their own public statements. Superintendent McDonough accused “the elected official,” who is Mayor Garrett, of spreading “inaccurate” information about a possible witness for the prosecution. And the DA’s office put out a statement directed to “officials in Wilkinsburg,” saying in part that “we understand the sense of their failure to adequately protect their citizens and empower them to stand up against criminal conduct.”
But Mayor Garrett, seemingly undeterred by the county officials’ statements, swung again on Tuesday, Feb. 18, in an exclusive, nine-minute interview with the New Pittsburgh Courier.
While she takes “accountability” if part of her Feb. 17 Facebook commentary about the prosecution “forcing a witness to lie on the suspects for money” was inaccurate, she told the Courier she’s standing by her assertion that county officials mishandled the case, thus resulting in a not guilty verdict.
She spoke of how the judge presiding over the case threw out the case against one of the original co-defendants, Robert Thomas, just an hour before trial proceedings began. The case against Thomas was lessened after local media outlets reported that one of the witnesses the prosecution could be using in the case against Thomas admitted to killing a child in East Hills in 2013, along with being responsible for other crimes. Mayor Garrett also referred to a comment made by Zappala after the not guilty verdict on Feb. 14, in which Zappala said in part in a statement: “It is very difficult for the police and my office to investigate and prosecute crimes when the number of witnesses is limited.”
“He (Zappala) put blame on our community, saying it was our failure to protect our residents and also, ‘to empower residents’ or witnesses to step up and say something…what’s interesting here is that there consistently have been growing concerns about our DA’s office and whether or not those feel safe participating with them,” Mayor Garrett told the Courier exclusively. “There’s been different cases in the past where there have been witnesses who’ve stepped up to speak about different cases, and their lives ended up being threatened, or some of them actually lost their lives while being in protective custody. So for him (Zappala) to say we’re not doing our part to empower, it’s almost a further isolation of their office, and isolating communities from justice and equitable treatment.”
Mayor Garrett said that Zappala and his office represents “all” of the municipalities of Allegheny County, which includes Wilkinsburg. “Whether he likes it or not, we (Wilkinsburg) are part of his region,” Mayor Garrett told the Courier. “If our county residents, if Black residents are not comfortable speaking out about injustices or ‘seeing something saying something’ because they don’t feel that your office is going to fulfill justice or give it the proper respect it does, that’s not (just) a Wilkinsburg problem.”
Mayor Garrett was particularly disturbed by the statement from the DA’s office from Feb. 17 that said: “We understand the sense of their failure to adequately protect their citizens and empower them to stand up against criminal conduct.”
The mayor’s response? “Well, first, I had to read it to check, was he really trying to blame us, Wilkinsburg, the municipality? And I know he said ‘Wilkinsburg officials,’ but obviously he’s responding to me, so just say Mayor Garrett. If he was really putting this on us…”
Mayor Garrett also responded to the DA office’s statement directed to the “officials in Wilkinsburg” that they should “be beyond political rhetoric at this point and instead be focused on formulating solutions.”
“It almost felt like this is a hashtag movement,” Mayor Garrett said of the “political rhetoric” claim by the DA’s office. “This isn’t a Democrat thing. This isn’t how left or how right you are. These are people’s lives. Lives were lost, lives are continuing to be lost. We had another homicide two weeks ago with the young man walking with a 5-year-old child…to say that it’s our failure in this, you’re putting the issue on us as opposed to taking accountability and doing the work in order to prevent this from happening again.”
Mayor Garrett continued: “I take accountability in my role as Wilkinsburg mayor right now, when I got sworn-in in 2018, and being on Council, to engage the community, to make sure that they (the Wilkinsburg residents) understand their rights, being proactive,” and being aware of the borough’s public safety forums and community conversations.
“We have been doing that,” Mayor Garrett said. Then, in a comment directed to Zappala, she said: “He’s been in office for 20 years, what exactly are some of the initiatives that he’s been doing in order to do this?”
The attack that occurred on that fateful March 9, 2016, night will be forever entrenched in the minds of many in the region. The subsequent trial and those accused in the murders received heightened attention. It hit home for Mayor Garrett, who at the time of the murders was a member of the borough Council, and then won the Wilkinsburg mayoral election in 2017, taking office in January 2018.
After nearly four years, the families of the victims, along with many others not connected to the families, finally were able to see a trial take place. For Mayor Garrett, it was disappointing to see the not guilty verdict levied. After a few days, she voiced her displeasure on Facebook, saying: “Since the beginning, this case has been shrouded with uncertainty, inconsistencies, and now unsolved murders that further traumatizes the families and our communities. From compensation to a witness who killed 15-month-old Marcus White, Jr. in 2013 and then went on to injure 2 more youths to forcing a witness to lie on the suspects for money—the reckless handling of the case has a severely negative and hurtful impact. The Allegheny County Police Department and Allegheny County District Attorney’s office should be held accountable for their lack of oversight and protocol. This only deepens the fracture of trust in law enforcement at a time when we are dealing with the gun violence epidemic. Moving forward, I implore the District Attorney’s office and Allegheny County Police Department to recognize their egregious missteps and take actions to ensure this does not happen again. Lives depend on your actions—we demand better.”
County Police Supt. McDonough responded in part on Feb. 17 by saying: “The men and women of the Allegheny County Police put their lives and their reputations on the line every day in service to every citizen in this county. They do not deserve to be subjected to unfair and uncorroborated attacks in any public forum. Despite these attacks, they will continue to serve with honor and integrity, and respond to calls for assistance from every community beleaguered by violent crime.”
Mayor Garrett told the Courier that she invites all to the borough’s next public safety forum, Feb. 25 at 6 p.m. at Civically Inc., a nonprofit located at 1001 Wood St. Representatives from the Allegheny County police department are scheduled to attend, and “the next person in line,” Mayor Garrett said, “it would be great to have someone (attend) from the DA’s office or District Attorney Zappala himself.”
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