Justin Vellucci stories, Page 19
Man found fatally shot inside vehicle in McKeesport
A man was fatally shot Thursday night in McKeesport. Police said they were dispatched to the 2900 block of Palmgreen Avenue for a report of a shooting at 10:25 p.m. First responders found the man with gunshot wounds inside a vehicle, police said. He was pronounced dead at the scene....
Moms of teens killed in McCandless crash win court battle against bail for jailed driver
Heather McCandless began to sob in front of a judge as she described how her husband ends each day by saying “good night” to the urn holding their late daughter’s ashes. Taylor Orlowski, 18, was killed Dec. 23 after a speeding car in which she was riding with four other...
Morning Roundup: Marshall home’s garage destroyed in fire
Here are some of the latest news items from this morning, Thursday, May 2: Marshall home’s garage destroyed in fire The attached garage of a Marshall Township home was destroyed in a fire Wednesday night. Multiple crews were dispatched to the 400 block of McKean Drive shortly after 9 p.m.,...
Federal jury convicts Oakmont native in 2019 kidnapping, death of Bethel Park woman
An Oakmont native is facing a potential sentence of life in prison after a federal jury Wednesday convicted him of kidnapping a Bethel Park woman, driving her to Nevada and killing her in the desert. John Matthew Chapman, 44, of Oakland, Md., who previously lived in Allegheny County, was found...
Morning Roundup: 1 injured after shooting in Penn Hills
Here are some of the latest news items from this morning, Wednesday, May 1. 1 injured in shooting in Penn Hills One person was injured in a shooting Wednesday morning in Penn Hills, according to police. Penn Hills officers were dispatched at about 1:30 p.m. to the 400 block of...
Morning Roundup: Police say Homewood man robbed same Family Dollar store 3 times
Here are some of the latest news items from this morning, Tuesday, April 30. Police say Homewood man robbed same Family Dollar store 3 times Pittsburgh police said they jailed a Homewood man who they say robbed a Lincoln-Lemington-Belmar dollar store three times in eight days, making his get-away each...
Johnstown man killed in motorcycle crash in Derry Township
A 39-year-old man was killed in a motorcycle crash in Derry Township, Westmoreland County, on Monday afternoon, the county coroner announced. Shawn Michael Pynos of Johnstown was driving alone on his Yamaha motorcycle west on Route 30 when he left the road and was ejected from his vehicle, Coroner Tim...
Pittsburgh teen killed in Troy Hill shooting
A Pittsburgh teen was killed late Monday in a shooting in Troy Hill, authorities said Tuesday morning. David Rivera, 18, was shot by an assailant at about 11:30 p.m. in the neighborhood on Pittsburgh’s North Side, according to the Allegheny County Medical Examiner. He died at the scene near 10...
Ligonier man charged after domestic dispute ends in police standoff
A Ligonier man was arrested after an hourslong standoff with police that started Sunday afternoon, authorities said. On Monday, Ligonier Valley police charged Thomas Crary, 47, with aggravated assault, strangulation, simple assault and recklessly endangering another person. Ligonier Valley police responded to the Terrace Road area about 4:15 p.m. for...
Morning Roundup: 2 men surrender in Washington County shooting
Here are some of the latest news items from this morning, Monday, April 29. Suspects surrender in Washington County shooting Two men charged in a double shooting in Washington County have turned themselves in, Pennsylvania State Police said. Windale “Winnie” Barfield Jr., 19, and Karon Whitlock, 20, both of Washington,...
Pittsburgh police arrest victim’s neighbor in West End homicide
Pittsburgh police have arrested a West End man in the fatal shooting last month of his 22-year-old friend and neighbor. Lontae Smith was shot March 25 in the 1400 block of Harlow Street, where he lived, in Pittsburgh’s Chartiers City neighborhood. Police responded after an alert at 9:54 p.m. by...
From Bulgaria to Squirrel Hill: A Holocaust survivor shares his story of survival
For roughly 80 years, Albert Farhy has held onto a button-sized piece of yellow cloth cut into the shape of a star that the Nazis forced him to wear as a teenager in Bulgaria during World War II. On Monday, the Holocaust survivor held up that fabric — an emblem...
Pittsburgh man sentenced after pleading guilty to fatally stabbing woman, hiding her in a tool shed
A judge on Wednesday sent a Pittsburgh man to prison for up to 38 years after he pleaded guilty to stabbing a woman 56 times and stashing her corpse inside a suitcase in a tool shed near his Knoxville home. Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge Kevin Sasinoski sentenced Montel Reed,...
‘No job should be a death sentence.’ U.S. labor secretary unveils new mine safety rules near Uniontown
Federal officials on Tuesday packed a Fayette County union hall to announce new mining standards on silica dust — part of an effort to stem a rising tide of black lung and other respiratory diseases being diagnosed at a rate American miners haven’t seen in 50 years. The new rule,...
Authorities ID McKeesport homicide victim as Pittsburgh man, 26
The Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office on Monday identified a man fatally shot earlier this month in McKeesport as Yancy Felder. Felder, 26, of Pittsburgh, was pronounced dead on April 5 at 7:23 p.m. in the emergency room at UPMC Presbyterian hospital in Oakland, the medical examiner said. Felder had...
U.S. Steel stockholders approve $14.9B Nippon merger during protest
Environmental activist and entrepreneur Qiyam Ansari isn’t excited that U.S. Steel is making him money. He bought $300 worth of the Pittsburgh-based steel giant’s stock at about $15 a share in 2019. By the time U.S. Steel announced Friday that 98% of voting shareholders approved a $14.9 billion merger deal...
‘Ghost bike’ memorial triggers talk of bike, pedestrian safety in Pittsburgh
A mountain bike culled from the junk bin of a North Point Breeze shop — its brakes stripped and its frame and wheels spray-painted white — emerged as a symbol Wednesday night for bike and pedestrian safety in Pittsburgh. As rain flickered on and off Downtown after commuting traffic had...
Emergency drill planned for Wednesday at Pittsburgh International Airport
Nearly 500 airport employees, volunteers and first responders will launch a government-mandated, emergency training exercise Wednesday evening at Pittsburgh International Airport — and officials there said they will take multiple measures to ensure travelers aren’t alarmed that something has gone wrong. The drill is scheduled to take place from 6...
Rising tide of juvenile gun violence puts Allegheny County teens in crosshairs
Several days after a spate of shootings in Pittsburgh’s eastern suburbs left two teens dead and one injured, CeCe Russell stood on a Wilkinsburg street corner and recalled her first brush with gun violence. The Homewood woman was still a little girl when her friend was killed in their neighborhood....
Police charge man in connection with Oakland sex assault
Police have charged a Pittsburgh man with a March 3 sex assault in Oakland that led police to increase foot patrols at the nearby University of Pittsburgh campus. Pittsburgh police arrested Javonne Taylor Thompson, 35, of Pittsburgh’s Knoxville neighborhood, on Thursday on 10 charges — five of them felonies —...
Suspects in Easter killing of Wilkinsburg teen in jail
A woman sought in the fatal Easter Sunday shooting of a 16-year-old boy in Wilkinsburg is now in jail. Alicia Johnson turned herself in Wednesday night at Pittsburgh’s Zone 5 police station in Highland Park, police confirmed Friday. Johnson and Kira Jackson, both 23 and from Pittsburgh, are each charged...
Man found guilty in 2010 Hill District fatal stabbing is charged with using knives to kill again
A man charged with stabbing two people during a Wednesday night drinking session in a Hill District home previously served prison time for a fatal stabbing more than a decade earlier. Police said Tyrone Taylor, 52, killed Laferrel “Flash” Dee inside an apartment at 230 Davenport St. Officers found Taylor...
Police charge 2 Pittsburgh women in fatal shooting of teen boy in Wilkinsburg
Late on Sunday night, surveillance cameras in Wilkinsburg captured seven or eight people jumping out of a dark Mazda CX9 that had turned onto Holmes Street. It was about 10 p.m. when the group walked toward Hill Avenue, some reportedly armed with baseball bats. Minutes later, a fight broke out,...
Woman charged in Duquesne homicide could have left apartment but shot instead, police say
A woman remained in jail Monday after a weekend argument in a Duquesne apartment ended in a fatal shooting that led to her arrest. Police charged Latiya Hicks, 24, of Braddock with killing Lamont Nichols, 30, of Pittsburgh on Saturday evening inside a public housing apartment building on North Second...
Former Pittsburgh police commander accused in federal lawsuit of secretly recording officers
A former Pittsburgh police commander violated police policy, state and federal wiretapping laws, and two constitutional amendments when he stashed body-worn cameras in patrol cars last fall to secretly record more than a half-dozen of his own officers, a lawsuit filed this week alleges. Matthew Lackner, 50, a Mt. Lebanon...
