Teen arrested in shooting death of pedestrian in Homewood
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Police said 15-year-old Anthony Thomas and his friend Robert Brown were targeting an enemy of theirs when they fired six shots from a train overpass in Homewood Saturday that led to the death of a 60-year-old pedestrian.
One of the bullets they fired struck Cheryl Esseny, who was returning home from the library with a friend along Frankstown Avenue when the shooting occurred shortly after 5 p.m.
She was hit in the lower abdomen and died before she got to the hospital. The Allegheny County medical examiner said she died of a a gunshot wound to the left groin.
Anthony was arrested Sunday and arraigned in the evening on charges of homicide, possession of a weapon by a minor and carrying a firearm without a license. He was being held without bail at the Allegheny County Jail. It was not known Sunday if his companion had been arrested.
According to a criminal complaint, Anthony told police that he went to the Shell gas station on Frankstown Avenue with Mr. Brown to buy sneakers. There, they saw a man they believed to be Romeo Price. Anthony told police that he and Mr. Price "don't like each other, so [Anthony] said he wanted to kill Mr. Price."
Police said Anthony and Mr. Brown decided to wait on a train overpass that runs over Frankstown Avenue for Mr. Price to drive by. Mr. Brown fired the first two shots as Mr. Price drove east, then he ran to other side of the overpass and fired two more shots. Anthony told police that he then told Mr. Brown that "he wanted to be the one who killed Romeo Price."
"So he said to Mr. Brown, 'give me the gun,'" according to the affidavit. He then grabbed the gun and fired two more shots at the car, police said.
Police did not say who fired the shot that ultimately hit Ms. Esseny, who they said fell on the sidewalk in front of 6810 Frankstown Ave., about 500 feet from where the alleged gunmen were standing.
The pair's target, Mr. Price, was acquitted last year of the murder of 15-year-old Ernest Tolliver, who was shot while sitting in a car in the drive-thru at the KFC restaurant in Homewood in January 2008.
First Published March 29, 2010 12:54 am
