A jury convicted a Pittsburgh man Tuesday of first-degree murder for killing a man and recklessly endangering others during a 2019 shooting in the city’s Hill District.
Jalaspian Charles, 34, stood trial in Allegheny County Common Pleas Court on multiple charges in connection to the death of 34-year-old Isaac Harrison.
Harrison died of several gunshot wounds at UPMC Mercy hospital shortly after a small fight escalated to a barrage of gunfire in a residential area on Chauncey Drive. It happened in the Bedford Dwellings section of the Hill District on May 27, 2019 — Memorial Day, according to police and information presented in court. Police learned of the incident from a ShotSpotter alert received shortly before 11 p.m. that night.
Harrison was shot at least five times in the chest and abdomen, according to investigators and the county Medical Examiner’s Office.
A 15-year-old girl also was shot in the foot. She was treated at a hospital.
Charles — who goes by the nickname “Jay Bird” — had been deemed an “armed and dangerous” fugitive and homicide suspect for more than four months before getting caught by U.S. Marshals last October.
Investigators found local police officers and detectives who were familiar with “Jay Bird” and identified him in security video footage during the incident, a criminal complaint said. They also used video to link his blue BMW SUV to the incident.
Jurors deliberated for about three hours before delivering their guilty murder verdict by Tuesday afternoon. The jury also found Charles guilty of recklessly endangering another person and illegally possessing a gun as a felon.
Judge Edward Borkowski scheduled a sentencing hearing for Jan. 20.
