The Mount Washington house where a 15-year-old girl was shot and killed and two other teenagers were wounded in a drive-by shooting this past weekend is a known hangout for local teens who use drugs and engage in mischief.
Gloria Hayden, 57, of Allentown, owns the house at 78 Pasadena St. Her daughter and grandchildren lived there until February, when it fell into such disrepair that they were forced to move, Ms. Hayden said yesterday.
She sealed the house with boards, but her older grandchildren repeatedly broke in and used it as a spot to meet with friends and smoke marijuana, she said.
"There's nothing you can say to these kids," Ms. Hayden, wearing white plastic gloves, said as she cleared away empty pizza boxes and broken glass. "They're ignorant. They're really disrespectful."
Early Sunday morning, according to police, gunmen fired as many as 15 shots at the house while a group of teenagers was gathered there.
Raymond Reese, a 15-year-old girl from Mount Oliver, died from a gunshot wound to the chest. Jesse Robinson III, 16, who lives on Pasadena Street with his family, was partially paralyzed by a bullet.
An unidentified 15-year-old girl from Knoxville was shot in the arm.
No arrests have been made in the case, Pittsburgh police Cmdr. Thomas Stangrecki said yesterday.
Ms. Reese was a ninth-grade student at Pittsburgh Public Schools' Student Achievement Center in Homewood. A group gathered on the porch of her Mount Oliver home yesterday declined to comment.
Mr. Robinson, a 10th-grade student at Perry Traditional Academy and a former running back for the South Side Sabers football team, was walking one of his sisters home from the Hayden house on Pasadena Street when the shooting occurred, according to his father.
"He was a wonderful kid," Ms. Hayden said. "He got caught coming at the wrong place at the wrong time."
She said the teenager was friendly with her grandchildren.
Ms. Hayden bought the three-bedroom house in 1993 and lived there until about four years ago, when she decided to move to a smaller house in Allentown. According to court records, she has faced tax liens on the Mount Washington property.
When she moved, she told her daughter, April Hayden, to live in the Pasadena Street house with her five sons -- now ages 4 to 18 -- to escape an abusive relationship in Detroit.
April Hayden neglected the house, and it gradually became unlivable, Gloria Hayden said. Her daughter eventually left to stay with a friend.
After Gloria Hayden boarded up the house, her grandchildren started coming back. Several weeks ago, Ms. Hayden drove by and saw a group of children gathered on the porch. She called police.
Sgt. Anthony Viscomi of the South Side station said police have responded to five calls to the address in the last two months, including several involving shootings.
Someone shot out a streetlight hanging over the property, he said.
At least one of Ms. Hayden's grandchildren, Aaron, 17, was at the house when the drive-by shooting took place on Sunday.
He and another 17-year-old were arrested the same day for the armed robbery of a nearby CoGo's convenience store. He was charged with robbery, false identification and conspiracy.
He is being held at the Allegheny County Jail on a $20,000 straight bond. He faces a preliminary hearing tomorrow.
Ms. Hayden's family has experienced street violence before. Her 18-year-old son was shot and killed in St. Clair Village in 1994.
She said her goal now is to remodel the Pasadena Street house. She may move back there to deter more crime.
The city's Bureau of Building Inspection yesterday received a complaint about the property's poor condition, and inspectors likely will visit it in the next few days.
First Published: June 17, 2008, 4:00 a.m.
