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Former Woodland Hills football player held for trial
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A former Woodland Hills High School football player was ordered today to stand trial on charges that he killed a McKeesport man outside an after-hours club in August.
A district judge held Vondre Griffin, 23, of Braddock, for court on a count of criminal homicide in the Aug. 5 death of 37-year-old Tameko Wall, court records show.
Mr. Wall was shot in the head outside the Sportsman's Club, also known as Pav's Tavern, on Fifth Avenue in McKeesport.
A witness told Allegheny County homicide detectives that Mr. Wall "squared up" with a man outside the club as if they were going to fight. The witness then saw Mr. Griffin walk up, pull a gun from his waistband and conceal it behind his leg. The witness yelled, "He's got a gun!" and the other man yelled, "Pop off," according to police accounts.
Mr. Griffin told detectives that a friend who was with him that night was punched in the face outside the bar, and he fired his gun because he believed another man was armed. Police said Mr. Griffin told them he never actually saw a gun on that man.
A quarterback for Woodland Hills, Mr. Griffin in 2007 was recruited to play football at Kent State University.
First Published September 14, 2012 5:35 pm
