A 37-year-old Perry South man pleaded guilty to third degree murder and two firearms violations Tuesday in Allegheny County Court, according to the district attorney’s office.
In exchange for the plea, Melvin Russaw was sentenced to 15 to 30 years in prison and five years of probation by Judge Jill Rangos.
Russaw was charged in the June 2, 2017, killing of Dedric Ellis, 48, of Turtle Creek, in Pittsburgh’s Marshall-Shadeland neighborhood.
Police found Ellis with multiple gunshot wounds in an overturned SUV. Police used video surveillance footage in the area to determine Russaw was in a car that followed Ellis’ SUV and shot at him, according to investigators. A person who saw Russaw get behind the wheel of the car identified him to police, according to a criminal complaint.
Russaw has a previous drug conviction which prohibited him from having a gun and spurred the firearms violations.
