Families claim bus company let drunk van driver ferry kids, leading to Pittsburgh crash
The families of five fifth graders whose school van crashed last year in Pittsburgh are suing the bus company that employed the driver, who was drunk and continued to drive the students after fleeing the accident scene. Their complaints allege the driver, who had a previous conviction for DUI, reported...
Pine woman gets probation for giving weight-loss clients cow drugs
Months after she stopped taking the weight-loss injections dispensed by Choice Restorative Medicine in McCandless, Kayleigh Mellas started to experience stroke-like symptoms, seizures and difficulty swallowing. She was hospitalized twice, and doctors were unable to determine the cause. Months later, Mellas learned from authorities that the weight-loss medication she’d been...
2 plead guilty to killing bystander, 16, during Wilkinsburg brawl
Two men accused of killing a teenager when they fired into a group of women fighting on a Wilkinsburg street will each serve up to 14 years in state prison. Eugene Camp, 23, of Whitehall and Omar Campbell, 21, of the North Side, pleaded guilty Tuesday to voluntary manslaughter before...
Federal judge to decide if Collier must amend zoning to allow church project
Township officials in Collier say they rejected a proposed shrine for the Holy Trinity Ukrainian Catholic Church because the project lacked the necessary details to justify amending zoning rules for it. But church officials say the township’s board of commissioners engaged in religious discrimination by rejecting the project. A federal...
A plea deal and acquittal leave no one left to take blame for Stowe slaying
A man who testified against his co-defendant in a Stowe homicide pleaded guilty Monday to reduced charges as part of a plea deal. Arrmon Hagans’ testimony failed to secure a guilty verdict against Cy-Miar Woods, 18. A jury acquitted him of homicide last week. Hagans, who was initially charged with...
Lawsuit accused Allegheny County Jail officers of assaulting man in intake unit
A Pittsburgh man is suing Allegheny County and several officers at the jail, alleging they beat him so severely on two separate occasions in the intake unit that they dislocated his shoulder and broke his ribs. Shawn Marple, 36, alleges excessive force, failure to intervene and municipal liability in the...
Whitehall man pleads guilty to stalking 11 women online, in person
A Whitehall man accused of stalking 11 different women online and across state lines pleaded guilty on Thursday in federal court. Brett Michael Dadig, 31, will be sentenced in Pittsburgh by U.S. District Judge Marilyn Horan on July 9. Guidelines call for a sentence of 41 to 51 months in...
Jury acquits Stowe homicide defendant who was 15 when slaying occurred
A jury Thursday acquitted an 18-year-old McKees Rocks man in a 2023 fatal shooting. Cy-Miar Woods was 15 when he was charged with killing Michael Dean, 26, of Stowe with a single bullet fired through Dean’s front door. Woods was arrested for homicide, as was Arrmon Hagans, 46. Authorities said...
Man strikes plea deal, testifies against co-defendant in Stowe drug slaying
Arrmon Hagans was facing a potential life sentence in connection with a Stowe homicide. But as part of a plea agreement, the 46-year-old might get significantly reduced prison time. All Hagans must do to uphold his part of the bargain, he told a jury on Wednesday, is testify against his...
Trial begins in Stowe homicide
Richard and Tianias Johnson were supposed to be picking up some pans to use for Thanksgiving dinner. Her son, Michael Dean, was expecting them. But when the Johnsons arrived at Dean’s house in the 800 block of Benwood Avenue in Stowe on Nov. 22, 2023, he didn’t answer the door....
Robinson man found guilty of defrauding government in defense contracts
A Robinson man accused by the federal government of making a $500,000 profit by substituting lower-quality parts to fulfill military contracts was found guilty on Tuesday of wire fraud and failure to pay taxes. Donald Smith, 75, could face federal prison when he is sentenced by U.S. District Judge J....
Pittsburgh parents sue pool drain maker after suction severely injures daughter, 3, at Mexican resort
The parents of a 3-year-old Pittsburgh girl who nearly died after she became trapped by suction from a wading pool drain at a resort in Mexico last year are suing the drain’s manufacturer. Adam Quatrini and Carolina Maria Vélez, of Shadyside, filed the lawsuit on Monday in federal court in...
Woman pleads guilty to fatal stabbing with pocketknife in Homewood
A Homewood woman will serve four to 10 years in state prison after pleading guilty Tuesday to voluntary manslaughter for fatally stabbing a woman she knew following an hours-long argument. Maurissa Plummer, 22, did not make any statement on her behalf during a brief plea hearing before Allegheny County Common...
How a single word caused a Pittsburgh homicide mistrial
The witness’s testimony was supposed to be simple. Pittsburgh police Officer Andrew Dice was expected to describe for jurors an interaction he’d heard at the Allegheny County Jail when dropping off a homicide suspect. Ambrose Sample Jr., charged with fatally shooting his girlfriend’s ex-boyfriend during a child custody exchange on...
What happened to Daphy? Haitian woman’s death prompts Pittsburgh immigration lawyer to question ICE procedures
An immigration attorney is raising questions about a Haitian woman’s death in Pittsburgh this month days after U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement took her into custody and then released her with an electronic ankle monitor. Daphy Michel, 31, of Charleroi was found unresponsive at a bus shelter on March 2...
Pittsburgh cop sues city, ex-chief Scirotto, claiming reverse discrimination
A white Pittsburgh police sergeant is suing the city and his former chief, Larry Scirotto, alleging he was discriminated against by being removed from a motorcycle unit. The lawsuit, filed by Brian Elledge in federal court on Wednesday, includes claims for race discrimination and retaliation. He is seeking money damages....
Homestead police sued for K-9 bite, malicious prosecution in arrest outside bar
A McKeesport man is suing Homestead police after he said he was attacked by their police dog outside Eon Bar & Grill last year and then targeted with a trumped-up arrest. Bryant Maurice Boyd Jr. filed the lawsuit in federal court on Feb. 28. In addition to the police department,...
Jury finds Homewood man who shot identical twins guilty of 1st-degree murder
A Homewood man will serve the rest of his life in prison after a jury on Wednesday found him guilty of first-degree murder. Preslin Turner,37, will be sentenced by Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge Simquita Bridges within 90 days. The penalty for first-degree murder in Pennsylvania is mandatory life in...
Mention of prior murder conviction in Westmoreland County leads to mistrial in Pittsburgh homicide case
An Allegheny County Common Pleas judge granted a mistrial Wednesday in the case of a man accused of killing his girlfriend’s ex during a custody exchange in Pittsburgh three years ago. Ambrose Sample Jr., 45, is charged with killing Corey Washington in the Family Dollar parking lot on Brighton Road...
Self-defense or execution?: Jury to begin deliberations in Homewood homicide
Preslin Turner’s lawyer called his client’s actions a textbook case of self-defense. “This is what self-defense looks like in the real world,” Aaron Sontz told a jury Tuesday. “It’s not scripted. It’s not pretty. Usually, it’s a tragedy for everyone involved.” But for prosecutors, what Turner did the night of...
Trial begins for man accused of killing girlfriend’s ex during North Side custody exchange
Video played for the jury on Monday showed the shooting on Pittsburgh’s North Side. It showed Corey Washington and Tanisha Turner arriving separately to exchange custody of their 4-year-old son. It showed the two arguing. And it showed Turner’s boyfriend, prosecutors said, fire at least three shots, killing Washington in...
‘I was in survival mode’: Defendant takes stand in Homewood homicide trial
Preslin Turner told the jury he thought he might die. As he was being choked on his hallway floor on the night of March 7, 2025, Turner said he couldn’t breathe and started to lose consciousness. He had gotten into an argument with the 27-year-old identical twin sons of the...
Jail employee under investigation for taking gun into facility
Police and jail administrators are investigating how a newly hired corrections officer at the Allegheny County Jail allegedly got through security last month with a gun and why it was not reported to supervisors. Bethany Hallam, a longtime Jail Oversight Board member, said the employee — who graduated from the...
Owner of African market in East Pittsburgh pleads guilty to food stamp fraud
A Pittsburgh woman must pay nearly $55,000 in restitution following her conviction for food stamp fraud at her African food market in East Pittsburgh. Bolaji Michael, 46, pleaded guilty in October to one count of food stamp fraud. On Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Marilyn J. Horan ordered her to serve...
Man pleads guilty to 2 bank robberies in Pittsburgh
A Shadyside man who turned himself in both times he robbed Pittsburgh banks pleaded guilty on Thursday in federal court. Aaron Roth, 36, will be sentenced to nine years in prison as part of a plea agreement. Sentencing on charges of armed bank robbery, brandishing a firearm and possessing a...
