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Ex-boyfriend charged in Wilkinsburg killings
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Allegheny County police say a Stanton Heights man, jealous over a paramour's new relationship, fatally shot her and her boyfriend while they lay in bed in their Wilkinsburg home.
Police on Monday charged Joshua Wright, 23, in the early Sunday killings of Da'Shawna Gibson, 24, and Michael Black, 23, in a second-floor bedroom of their home in the 500 block of Princeton Boulevard.
Ms. Gibson was the mother of Mr. Wright's 3-year-old son, Joshawn, and court records show their relationship was troubled even before he was born. In December 2007, Ms. Gibson sought a protectionfromabuse order against Mr. Wright, writing in her petition that he was "crazy" and chased her and her friend with a gun.
In January 2010, she again sought protection, telling a judge he tried to take their son from her home, then pushed and slapped her. He told Ms. Gibson and her mother that they "were going to drop like flies," she wrote in her petition.
A judge dismissed the order a week later when Ms. Gibson failed to show up for a final hearing on the matter, court records show.
The two split up, and Ms. Gibson had been seeing Mr. Black for nearly a year, said her mother, Celeste Howard. Mr. Black, whom she met through a cousin, was "a responsible young man," and a father figure to Joshawn. "She was happy. She was moving on in life," Ms. Howard said of her daughter. Mr. Wright "didn't want my daughter to be happy. If he couldn't have her, no one could."
A witness told county homicide detectives that she was sleeping on the living room floor about 5 a.m. Sunday when she heard someone step over her and climb the stairs to the second floor. She told police she heard gunshots and saw Mr. Wright, whom she had known for 12 years, tiptoe down the stairs, go out the kitchen door and take off in a white SUV. It was not until 2 p.m. that the same witness called 911 to report that the door to the home was ajar. Responding officers found the bodies.
It was unclear why the witness waited nine hours to contact authorities. Police found no signs of struggle or forced entry, homicide Lt. Andrew Schurman said.
Ms. Gibson graduated from Westinghouse High School, went to beauty school and was working as a valet parking attendant at a hospital, her mother said. She met Mr. Wright in high school, and he became increasingly controlling after their baby was born. Mr. Black, she said, was a welcomed change of pace.
Mr. Wright's relatives could not be reached for comment. A preliminary hearing on two counts of homicide and a burglary charge is scheduled for Friday.
First Published July 3, 2012 12:00 am
