Pittsburgh

2nd man charged in connection with February fatal shooting in Pittsburgh’s North Side

Justin Vellucci
By Justin Vellucci
2 Min Read Aug. 10, 2023 | 2 years Ago
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Pittsburgh police have arrested a second man in connection with a fatal shooting in February in the city’s North Side.

Homicide detectives obtained an arrest warrant Tuesday for Demetrius Caligiuri, whose age and hometown were unavailable, in the killing of Rasul Aquil, police spokeswoman Cara Cruz said.

U.S. Marshals joined Pittsburgh police to apprehend Caligiuri in Bloomfield on Thursday, she said.

Pittsburgh police charged Caligiuri with criminal homicide and criminal conspiracy, Cruz said. He was taken to Allegheny County Jail.

Aquil, 23, of Pittsburgh, was found Feb. 5 in the North Side with a gunshot wound to the head, Cruz said.

Police responded just before 1:15 p.m. to the 600 block of Chautauqua Street for reports of a man, later identified at Aquil, unresponsive inside a vehicle, police said at the time of the incident. Medics took him to Allegheny General Hospital, where he later died.

Aaron Smith, 30, of Pittsburgh, previously was arrested in connection with the shooting.

Police charged Smith on March 30 with criminal homicide, criminal conspiracy and firearms charges in connection with the shooting, court records show. He was taken to Allegheny County Jail, where he was denied bail.

No preliminary hearing date for Smith was set as of Thursday afternoon, court records show.

Attorney Patrick Kenneth Nightingale, who represents Smith, said Thursday he is “looking forward to defending Mr. Smith in court.”

“We certainly intend to vigorously defend against these charges and challenge the commonwealth’s evidence, which contains a substantial amount of circumstantial evidence,” Nightingale said.

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About the Writers

Justin Vellucci is a TribLive reporter covering crime and public safety in Pittsburgh and Allegheny County. A longtime freelance journalist and former reporter for the Asbury Park (N.J.) Press, he worked as a general assignment reporter at the Trib from 2006 to 2009 and returned in 2022. He can be reached at jvellucci@triblive.com.

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