A woman acquitted of homicide in a 2020 shooting outside a McKeesport bar but convicted of conspiring to commit the crime is headed to prison for up to 14 years.
Gabrielle Parker, who police arrested as the shooter, was sentenced Tuesday in Allegheny County Common Pleas Court.
Parker faced the possibility of up to 40 years in prison in the killing of Ericka Stevens, 29, of Pittsburgh outside the McKeesport Beer Barrel on June 18, 2020.
A jury deliberated about six hours in October before coming to a split verdict against Parker, 38, of McKeesport.
Prosecutors Tuesday recommended a prison sentence of 20 to 40 years on the conspiracy charge. Attorney Wendy Williams, who represents Parker, asked for her to be released on time served.
Judge Thomas E. Flaherty’s sentence fell between the two. He sentenced Parker to 7 to 14 years.
The 90-minute sentencing featured testimony from multiple people, including Parker’s 18-year-old daughter, Rayne Hunter, who broke down in tears while on the stand.
“I wasn’t raised, I just grew up,” Hunter, who was 12 at the time of her mother’s arrest, testified. “And I really just need my mom.”
Parker herself read a statement from the witness stand. Part was directed to the victim’s family, other parts to her own. She also turned and addressed Flaherty directly.
“I can and I have changed for the better,” she told the judge. “Your honor, I ask that you find mercy in your heart.”
The soft tones of Parker’s plea was in stark contrast to the firmness and directness of Jazmen Hill, Stevens’ younger sister.
Stevens “was my best friend, my entire world, my everything,” said Hill, 25, who was a decade younger than Stevens. “At 20 years old, I did not expect to run a GoFundMe for (Stevens’) funeral. At 20 years old, I did not expect to be writing her obituary.”
“Erica will never see her children grow up,” added Tonette R. Stewart, Stevens’ aunt, in a letter read by prosecutors. “God will one day be the final judge.”
‘Compromise verdict’
Williams previously told TribLive she was “very relieved” by the jury’s split verdict.
“I think it was a compromise verdict by the jury who didn’t think she was fully without blame but didn’t think she pulled the trigger,” Williams said.
The prosecution said Parker and Stevens were involved in a fight inside the bar around 1:40 a.m. on the day of the homicide. Video from the bar showed Parker strike Stevens over the head with a three-quarters full bottle of Corona beer.
Video from outside then showed Parker getting into a Chevrolet Impala. driven by Heaven Franklin-Pitts, who could be seen holding a gun as she stood outside of the car.
Assistant District Attorney Diana Page told the jury in her closing argument that video showed Franklin-Pitts get inside the car and pass the gun to Parker, who was the front-seat passenger.
Six seconds after that, the video showed the front passenger window go down, and six seconds after that, five shots were fired.
Stevens, who was sitting in another car, was killed.
Parker left Pittsburgh a few days later and went to Chicago, where she was arrested a month later by U.S. marshals.
Franklin-Pitts, 28, of Homestead reached a deal with the prosecution to plead guilty to voluntary manslaughter in exchange for her cooperation. At trial, she said Parker was the shooter.
She was ordered to serve five years probation.
