Police this week filed homicide charges against a second man in connection with the May slaying of a Penn Hills teenager.

Daeshuan Eric Smith, 19, of Penn Hills, is charged with homicide, conspiracy and carrying a firearm without a license. He’s alleged to have taken part in the May 23 shooting that killed 17-year-old Darin Hobdy on Vantine Street in Wilkinsburg.

Investigators have indicated they believe the shooting was retribution for breaking into the home of 21-year-old Deontae Nalls, who is also charged with homicide.

Two days before his death, Hobdy reportedly arrived at Nalls’ Plum apartment and found it had been broken into, according to court documents. Hobdy told police he arrived and discovered the screen door closed but the interior door open. He called Nalls, who returned from a nearby gas station.

Nalls told police someone took $30,000 and an AR-15 during the burglary, according to the complaint. Plum officers secured two other guns Nalls had in the apartment, and a live round cleared from a 9mm would later be matched to three shell casings found near Hobdy’s body.

Surveillance footage from near Vantine Street showed two vehicles driving past the area where Hobdy was found, according to the complaint. The first was a light colored SUV with a sunroof and an open hatchback, and the second was a darker sedan missing a fog light and making a “very distinct mechanical sound.”

Investigators would later find that Nalls drives a dark sedan with a missing fog light that made a mechanical sound, according to the complaint.

Nalls was arrested June 8, and investigators said they used cell phone records to link Smith to both Nalls and the area around Vantine Street the night of the shooting. Nalls made a series of calls to a phone number registered to Smith in the days before and the night of Hobdy’s shooting, according to the complaint. Authorities wrote that Smith’s cell phone pinged near Vantine Street and made a call to Nalls about 10:26 p.m., about three minutes before the shooting.

Police noted that Smith’s phone was deactivated May 30 – the same day search warrants were served on Nalls for his car and phone. They also linked Smith to a light colored SUV with a sunroof like the one seen in the security footage from Wilkinsburg, according to the complaint.

Smith had not been arrested as of Thursday afternoon, according to police. He is about 5 feet, 9 inches tall, 145 pounds and has a slim build, police said. Anyone who sees him should call 911.

Copyright ©2025— Trib Total Media, LLC (TribLIVE.com)