Justin Vellucci stories, Page 8
3 plead guilty in 2022 fatal North Side shooting
Two men and one woman pleaded guilty Thursday in connection with a 2022 shooting on Pittsburgh’s North Side, where a barrage of dozens of gunshots killed Stephone Drayton and injured three others. Hezekiah Nixon, 19, of Pittsburgh; Andrew Johnson, 29, of Coraopolis; and Tylajae Allen, 24, of Pittsburgh, stood separately...
Teen identified who was fatally shot in Wilkinsburg
Authorities have identified the teenager killed Wednesday in a Wilkinsburg shooting. Deglin St. Clair, 18, of Pittsburgh’s Larimer neighborhood, was shot in the 1700 block of Wilkinsburg’s Wesley Street shortly before 5:30 p.m., the Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office said Thursday. The victim was taken to UPMC Mercy hospital, where...
Western Pa. politicians divided over Middle East conflict
Two Pittsburgh-area U.S. House members on Wednesday blasted President Donald Trump for opening the possibility of thrusting the U.S. into war in the Middle East without congressional approval. Social media posts by some of their Republican counterparts, meanwhile, did not mention the ongoing missile strikes between Israel and Iran but...
Man hospitalized after morning stabbing in Downtown Pittsburgh
A Downtown Pittsburgh stabbing left a man hospitalized in critical condition early Wednesday. Pittsburgh police found the man, who they did not name, lying on the ground and screaming around 5 a.m. near the intersection of Liberty Avenue and Smithfield Street, a spokeswoman said. He had been stabbed multiple times...
Police charge Duquesne man in fatal Safari Club shooting
Police on Tuesday arrested a Duquesne man in the killing of Tywone McClain last weekend inside a city bar. Marvin Harpool, 51, shot McClain, 26, once in the head last Friday at the Safari Club bar, according to a criminal complaint. Harpool had stepped between McClain and an unnamed woman...
Pittsburghers with ties to Middle East react to Israel’s attack on Iran
Two Pittsburghers — one a Jew who lived for a decade in Israel, the other an Iranian-American with family in Tehran — offered starkly differing views Friday about Israel’s preemptive attacks on Iran less than 24 hours earlier. “This isn’t Israel attacking and beginning another war, this is a war...
Lawsuit alleges lack of care caused Allegheny County Jail inmate’s 2023 death
An understaffed medical team at Allegheny County Jail was “deliberately indifferent” in 2023 to an inmate’s opioid withdrawal, which ended in the Beaver County man’s death, according to a lawsuit filed Thursday. Zachary J. Sahm, 27, of Glasgow, died in the Downtown lockup on Sept. 13, 2023 — four days...
Allegheny County, McCandless cop settle civil rights lawsuit over jail scuffle
Allegheny County and a McCandless police officer have settled a lawsuit by a Hampton man who claims his civil rights were violated when an Allegheny County Jail corrections officer handcuffed and shocked him with a Taser last year, officials told TribLive on Thursday. “That feels good baby,” the lawsuit claims...
Police probe armed robberies of postal workers in South Hills
Mt. Lebanon police early Tuesday apprehended four people as part of an investigation into recent armed robberies of postal workers in the South Hills that left one injured. Authorities launched an investigation last week following two incidents in Upper St. Clair and Bridgeville, said Dave Gealey, a U.S. Postal Inspection...
FAA, county bar drones from flying near U.S. Open grounds
Amateur drone operators, take note: You need to avoid the air space this week around Oakmont Country Club. A Temporary Flight Restriction has been put in effect above the historic country club while the U.S. Open golf championship makes its 10th visit to the Allegheny Valley, officials announced Monday. The...
Allegheny County politician’s social media post on war in Gaza stokes divisions
The war in Gaza has triggered a war of words over antisemitism in Allegheny County. Western Pennsylvania’s largest Jewish group recently rebuked a County Council member for endorsing a pro-Palestinian activist’s comments on social media. “Another week of watching people burned alive in Gaza and we’re still required to be...
Republican rift: Pittsburgh, Allegheny County GOP refuse to back Moreno for mayor
Two of Southwestern Pennsylvania’s largest Republican committees are refusing to back Tony Moreno, the GOP nominee for Pittsburgh mayor, as part of a widening split with a fractious candidate they view with suspicion and distress. The heads of the Pittsburgh and Allegheny County GOP committees told TribLive on Friday they...
Testimony about loaded gun prompts judge to detain man charged with antisemitic threat against official
An Elizabeth man charged with sending an elected official an antisemitic threat online had texted a friend minutes earlier, asking “Are you ready to hunt down Jews for extermination?” a federal prosecutor said Thursday. Edward Arthur Owens Jr., 29, sent multiple messages expressing hate for Jews and Israel before threatening...
Public safety ‘iceberg’: Police, USGA keeping many details about U.S. Open security under wraps
Around 200 police officers from 25 agencies — some of them handling security or crowd control, others parking and traffic details — will form the U.S. Open’s public-safety backbone next week to ensure the men’s golf championship’s 10th trek to the Pittsburgh suburbs goes off without a hitch. But, when...
Police make 3rd arrest in slaying of Woodland Hills grad
Pittsburgh police Tuesday arrested the third suspect in the fatal shooting in September of a Woodland Hills High School graduate and former football standout. Zion White, 21, of Garfield, was charged in the killing of Gavin Yarbough, 21. Police said Yarbough was shot multiple times during a late-night meeting in...
Agents seize 54 pounds of pot worth $240K at Pittsburgh airport
A Massachusetts woman remained in jail Friday after customs agents at Pittsburgh International Airport said they discovered she was trying to fly overseas with more than 54 pounds of marijuana. Jetta Monet Corbett, 30, of Brockton, Mass., was set to board a British Airways flight from Pittsburgh to London around...
Police arrest 2nd of 3 suspects in slaying of Woodland Hills graduate
Police last week arrested the second of three suspects in the September slaying of a Woodland Hills High School graduate and former football standout. Marcus Johnson, 23, of Pittsburgh was charged Saturday in the killing of Gavin Yarbough, 21. Police said Yarbough was shot multiple times during a late-night meeting...
Route 28 South reopens in Pittsburgh after rush-hour crash sends 1 to hospital
One person was hospitalized Tuesday afternoon following a multiple-vehicle crash that shut down part of state Route 28 and left some rush-hour commuters sitting in traffic for an hour, authorities said. The crash occurred on Route 28’s southbound lanes near the 40th Street Bridge in Pittsburgh, according to Allegheny County...
Communities mark Memorial Day with parades, salutes to honor those who died in fight for freedom
As a cacophony of marching bands Monday helped power Memorial Day parades that snaked through small-town streets — marchers and onlookers alike draped in red, white and blue — it was the small details that resonated loudest for one Alle-Kiski Valley veteran. Don Donahue, a Veterans of Foreign Wars commander...
Neighbor pulls man off property after blaze guts his Springdale Township home
Editor’s note: This story was updated to show the location of the fire is in Springdale Township. Della Mayfield didn’t think much Monday morning when she saw smoke starting to billow from her elderly neighbor’s Springdale Township home. She just looked out her window, then ran. “There was so much...
Dispute over damage to car preceded fatal shooting in Homewood
A Pittsburgh man will face trial in connection with a fatal shooting in Homewood in October. Safon Gump, 24, of East Liberty was held for court Friday following a preliminary hearing on homicide and other charges. Police said Gump killed Gregory Prince, 38, of Homewood after a conversation about damage...
Driver in fatal West Homestead crash had 3x legal limit of alcohol, police say
An Ohio driver’s blood-alcohol level was more than three times the legal limit when he crashed his car in West Homestead two years ago, killing his girlfriend, who was a passenger, police said. Following a preliminary hearing Friday, Gaylen Thomas will stand trial on 17 criminal charges including homicide by...
Former Marine, a double amputee, charged with raping 13-year-old girl
A Marine and Purple Heart recipient who lost both legs to a bomb in Afghanistan in 2010 remained jailed Thursday on charges that he raped a 13-year-old girl multiple times last month. Allegheny County Police this week arrested Brandon Rumbaugh, 36, of Pleasant Hills on 12 criminal charges, seven of...
Moreno-West race leaves Pittsburgh GOP upbeat about party’s prospects
Less than 24 hours after Pittsburgh Republicans chose former police officer Tony Moreno to be their party’s mayoral candidate in the general election, some suggested the GOP pulling off a David vs. Goliath in November is possible — even in a city where their registered voters are outnumbered 5-1. Turnout...
Cops seek answers in shooting outside UPMC McKeesport
A man who police say was shot outside a McKeesport hospital by the driver of a car he was trying to get into remained hospitalized Wednesday in critical condition. Allegheny County Police continue to investigate why the victim was trying to get into a stranger’s car early Tuesday morning. Jim...
