Police have arrested a North Side man in the March shooting death of a 29-year-old woman in the Allegheny Commons courtyard on the North Side March 17.
Jesse "Lil Man" Lewis, 32, is charged with homicide, attempted homicide, aggravated assault, recklessly endangering another person and carrying a loaded weapon. Police said he opened fire during a brawl in the courtyard, killing Lakisha Robinson and injuring a man.
Police obtained a warrant for Mr. Lewis' arrest the day after the shooting and made "numerous attempts ... to apprehend [him] without success," a news release said. He was later listed on Crime Stoppers and on the U.S. Marshal's Most Wanted Fugitives list.
On Monday, after a car he was a passenger in was stopped by McKees Rocks police, he told police he was Darrell Strong. Coincidentally, a man by that name has a warrant out for his arrest for a firearms violation and for receiving stolen property, so Mr. Lewis was arrested.
After being fingerprinted at the Allegheny County Jail, authorities determined who he was and charged him in Ms. Robinson's death.
Police said Ms. Robinson was killed when Mr. Lewis opened fire on a crowd in the courtyard of Allegheny Commons around 2:20 a.m. Another man, 24-year-old Richard Edge, was injured when his arm was grazed by a bullet.
In a criminal complaint, police said that two unnamed witnesses identified Mr. Lewis as the shooter. The first witness reported breaking up a fight between Mr. Lewis and the witness' sibling. The witness said Mr. Lewis then left the courtyard and returned with the gun, shooting Ms. Robinson.
A second unnamed witness reported having a couple of drinks with Ms. Robinson at Peanuts Bar on East Ohio Street before returning to Ms. Robinson's apartment. Then, in the courtyard, Ms. Robinson got into a fight with a woman. The witness pulled them apart and began walking with her back to her apartment. The witness then heard a gunshot and turned to see Mr. Lewis standing with his arm extended, gun in hand, according to the complaint. Ms. Robinson had been hit in the side, and the witness stood with her, applying pressure to the gunshot wound.
Ms. Robinson was pronounced dead upon arrival at Allegheny General Hospital.
First Published: October 5, 2011, 8:15 p.m.
