Hammer-wielding mother, daughters among those accused of attacking 2 Tarentum women

Tarentum police accused five women, including a mother wielding a hammer and her two adult daughters, of luring two other women out of an apartment to assault them.

Police charged Benetta Maria McCoy, 49, of Pittsburgh with two felony counts of aggravated assault along with two counts each of simple assault and harassment, and a count of conspiracy in connection with the Aug. 21 incident.

McCoy, who lives in the North Oakland/Shadyside area, has not yet been taken into custody, according to court records.

Also charged were Kaitlynn Marie Kuzel, 23, of Tarentum, and McCoy’s two adult daughters, Pearria Uniqu Blackwell, 24, of Swissvale and Benetta Antho Blackwell, 25, of Tarentum.

The three women were charged with two counts each of simple assault and harassment and a count of conspiracy.

Benetta Blackwell was arrested Sept. 13 and released from custody after a Pittsburgh bail agency posted a $10,000 bond on her behalf. She was ordered to appear for a preliminary hearing Sept. 27 before District Judge Carolyn Bengel.

Pearria Blackwell and Kuzel were charged by summons and ordered to appear for preliminary hearings Oct. 4 before Bengel, court records show.

A fifth woman who is accused of participating in the attack by knocking on the door of the apartment to lure the two victims into the hallway was identified by police but not yet charged, according to the court docket.

The incident

Police wrote in a criminal complaint that shortly before 10:30 p.m. Aug. 21, officers responded to a call for a disturbance on the seventh floor of the Golden Towers apartment building at 215 Allegheny St., which is owned by the Allegheny County Housing Authority.

Police said one of the women who was assaulted had blood covering her face. She said she didn’t know the four women who attacked her and her friend but said the incident likely was captured by the building’s security cameras.

Investigators who viewed surveillance video from the hallway outside the apartment said it shows three women, including McCoy, who was holding a hammer, outside the apartment about 10 p.m. A few minutes later, they were joined by two other women, according to the complaint.

A woman who didn’t participate in the assault is seen knocking on the door of an apartment before the two victims enter the hallway where they were attacked, the complaint said.

Police said McCoy hit the two women in the back and head with the hammer before dropping it and then beating the women with her fists as the other three joined in.

Benetta Blackwell is seen in the video throwing one of the victims to the ground by her hair and holding her down so her sister could punch and kick her. McCoy picks up the hammer and begins hitting the woman in the back and legs, the complaint said.

The assault stopped when two men who were in the apartment intervened, police said.

Police said security video shows McCoy, Kuzel and the Blackwell sisters leaving the building.

About two hours after the assault, Kuzel and Pearria Blackwell are seen on security video entering an apartment on the second floor, the complaint said.

A short time later, police took the pair into custody, according to the complaint.

Blackwell told investigators that her mother was the woman with the hammer and that her sister also was involved, the complaint said.