A Stanton Heights man pleaded guilty today to killing a 79-year-old pedestrian with his car in Lawrenceville and leaving the scene.

After Tyrone H. Kirk pleaded to reduced charges, Allegheny County Judge David R. Cashman sentenced him to 27 to 54 months in state prison followed by two years' probation.

Mr. Kirk, 34, turned himself in to police two days after he hit Harry Rakoczy on March 1, 2008, in the 4400 block of Butler Street at around 4:30 a.m. Police were alerted to the accident when a motorist saw the victim face down in the street, with cars swerving to miss him. He was dead when medical officials arrived. The medical examiner determined he died from blunt force trauma to the head and trunk.

Mr. Rakoczy, a city building inspector who worked for about 35 years as a jack-of-all-trades at Arsenal Lanes bowling alley, had lived in Lawrenceville all his life. He was en route to the bowling alley when he was struck by the car. He grew up just around the corner from where the accident happened, according to his son Anthony, 53, of Lincoln Place.

The victim's son said his father had played drums in a polka band called the Polka Dots in the late 1950s and early 1960s. He was widowed in 1963. He continued to polka dance with his girlfriend of over 30 years up until his death.

Anthony Rakoczy said he had "no compassion for [Mr. Kirk] at all . . . because he drove away."

Mr. Kirk's attorney, William Difenderfer, said today that it's rare to have a client who comes forward of his own volition and helps police solve an unsolved homicide. "They wouldn't even have had an idea of what happened or how it happened if he hadn't come in," he said.

Police reports indicated Mr. Kirk didn't know what he had hit and when he looked around, he didn't see anything near the car. Mr. Difenderfer said his client didn't realize what had happened until he saw a news report about the hit-and-run. He turned himself in to police with an attorney present.

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