Justin Vellucci stories, Page 6
Realtors, experts weigh in on Pittsburgh housing market for median income earners
Editor’s note: This is the first in an occasional series on real estate market trends in Western Pennsylvania. Ashlea Lee was tired of hunting for pet-friendly rental apartments for Reese, her 5-year-old golden retriever. The Westmoreland County native and Greensburg Central Catholic alumna knew what she wanted: a modest ranch,...
He died from pneumonia 17 years after being shot. Now it’s a homicide case.
The December death of a man who was shot more than 17 years ago in North Braddock has been ruled a homicide. William Loughner had been drinking iced tea at Crud’s Bar on Brinton Avenue on June 27, 2008, when a pair of masked gunman stormed in and demanded money,...
‘We will miss u’: Memorial grows to Castle Shannon teen who died in arson
Lakyn Shelleby lived loudly. Friends and neighbors adored her, recalling an upbeat, fierce-willed young woman described by her boss as a “ball of energy.” The 19-year-old sophomore at the University of Pittsburgh, sometimes photographed sporting a nose ring or strands of blue hair, died Sunday, an alleged homicide victim trapped...
Pittsburgh police arrest 1 of 3 suspects in deadly Downtown riverfront attack
Pittsburgh police have arrested one of three suspects in the violent robbery and killing of Stephen Williams, a 42-year-old man whose body was found in the Ohio River earlier this month. Jose Soto, 25, was charged Monday with homicide, robbery and conspiracy in connection with the Sept. 6 killing. His...
‘I just shot my girlfriend 17 times’: Homicide trial opens against Munhall man who police say confessed
A homicide trial against a Munhall man returned repeatedly Monday to a detail the prosecution claimed is undisputed: that Darion Abel told a police officer, “I just shot my girlfriend 17 times.” During opening remarks that ran 22 minutes, Allegheny County Assistant District Attorney Alexa Roberts said it’s not a...
Jewish woman who vandalized Pittsburgh synagogue gets probation
A Jewish woman accused of conspiring with an alleged Hamas sympathizer to vandalize two Jewish organizations in Pittsburgh last summer was sentenced Wednesday in federal court to five years probation. Talya A. Lubit, 25, pleaded guilty in May to misdemeanor counts of conspiracy to commit a crime against the United...
Trio hurt in Downtown park stabbing tell police shifting stories
Three people who received minor injuries in a stabbing incident Sunday night near a Downtown Pittsburgh park knew each other through a “transactional history with drugs and money,” a Pittsburgh police spokeswoman said Tuesday. Kevin Jenkins, 51, of Pittsburgh remained in the Allegheny County Jail Tuesday on charges that he...
Squirrel Hill apartment building ravaged by stubborn fireVideo
Dozens of Pittsburgh firefighters spent more than four hours Tuesday battling a stubborn blaze in a 30-unit apartment building in Squirrel Hill that displaced tenants and shot a massive tower of smoke into the sky that could be seen for miles. No injuries were reported from the fire, which collapsed...
Reserve bank heist leads to prison for Pittsburgh man
A Pittsburgh man has been sentenced to nearly six years in prison for robbing a bank in Reserve last year. Authorities say Mark Laughner, 38, entered the Dollar Bank on Mount Troy Road on May 16, 2024, and demanded the bank’s large bills. When the teller handed him $100 and...
Owner of Penn Hills care home pleads guilty to $2M health care fraud
The owner of a Penn Hills facility that serves people with intellectual disabilities pleaded guilty in federal court Monday to health care fraud and other crimes that led to $2 million in Medicaid overpayments. Kelley Oliver-Hollis, 61, of Pittsburgh’s East Hills neighborhood, acknowledged responsibility for the crimes alleged in 39...
Baldwin-Whitehall school custodian charged with possessing child porn
Police on Monday arrested a Baldwin-Whitehall School District custodian on numerous child pornography charges after a monthslong investigation found the Whitehall man stored thousands of sexually explicit videos and images on multiple cellphones, authorities said. Michael Siar, 55, was arraigned early Monday on 22 counts of possessing child pornography and...
Pittsburgh police charge Tarentum man in knife attack on bicyclist
A Tarentum man remained jailed Friday on a charge of attempted homicide after police said he sliced a man’s neck during a robbery in Homewood earlier this week. John Reznickcheck, 51, attacked a man around 4:30 p.m. Tuesday in the 900 block of Brushton Avenue as the victim rode his...
Protesters demand action on gun violence, days after school massacre in Minneapolis
Several dozen protesters crowded a Squirrel Hill intersection Thursday — many holding provocative signs, some chanting at passing motorists — to demand an end to the nation’s rash of gun violence. Eight days had passed since a gunman opened fire in a Minneapolis Catholic school. He killed two children while...
4 Pittsburgh firefighters hurt battling blaze in South Side Slopes
Four Pittsburgh firefighters were treated at an area hospital after they were shocked Thursday morning while battling a blaze in the city’s South Side Slopes neighborhood. The firefighters, who authorities declined to name, “came into contact with an electrical current” inside an unoccupied home in the 100 block of Monastery...
Authorities ID Pittsburgh man as Lawrenceville gas station homicide victim
Authorities on Tuesday identified a 26-year-old Pittsburgh man as the person fatally shot last month at a Lawrenceville gas station. Davon Smith-Mahdi was killed, and a second person was wounded, on Aug. 2 at the A-Plus Sunoco gas station in Pittsburgh’s Lawrenceville neighborhood. Pittsburgh police charged a clerk at the...
Pleasant Hills man killed son, then himself, police say
A Pleasant Hills man Monday morning fatally shot his son before turning the gun on himself, authorities confirmed Tuesday. Edgar Dawson, 72, shot his son, Bradley, 38, once in the head around 7 a.m. in the single-family home they shared, Allegheny County Police said. He then shot himself in the...
Foam, fetch and fancy cocktails: Pittsburgh pups party at Dog Penn’s Labor Day bash
The Dog Penn, a private dog park and bar in Pittsburgh’s Strip District, offered its patrons Monday all the accoutrements of a fantastic Labor Day celebration. A bartender was ready to sling cocktails like Frenchie, a mix of butterfly pea gin, lemon and prosecco, and fill pint glasses with a...
1 injured in blaze that destroys boat on Allegheny River near Harmar
One person was hospitalized after a boat caught fire Monday afternoon in the Allegheny River near Harmar. Police, firefighters and first responders were dispatched about 3 p.m. following reports of the fire, emergency services spokesman Kasey Reigner told TribLive. The boat caught fire on the water near the Allegheny River...
Police: Suspect in custody after St. Ann church arson, 4 other Greene County fires
A suspect was identified and arrested Monday after a rash of weekend fires in Greene County, including one at the county’s oldest Roman Catholic church, state police said. They didn’t release the suspects name or if charges have been filed. There were five separate fires that police believe are connected...
U.S. Steel sets 2 batteries involved in deadly blast at Clairton Coke Works to ‘hot idle’ mode
U.S. Steel officials announced Friday they set two coke batteries at the heart of a deadly Clairton Coke Works explosion this month to “hot idle,” meaning they will remain heated but not being used for coke production. “The hot idle state of the batteries will allow them to maintain their...
Pitt hit with ‘armed shooter’ hoax day after school shooting in Minneapolis
The University of Pittsburgh on Thursday became the latest school targeted by a fake report of an armed shooter on campus, a day after a man opened fire during Mass at a Minneapolis Catholic school, killing two children and injuring 17. At 12:28 p.m., University of Pittsburgh police sent out...
Man stabbed in North Side, hospitalized in critical condition
A man was hospitalized in critical condition Thursday after being stabbed in Pittsburgh’s North Side. Pittsburgh police found the man, who they have not named, around 6 a.m. near the intersection of Pressley Street and Cedar Avenue in the city’s East Allegheny, or Deutschtown, neighborhood. Police said the man had...
Shaler Area High School student in custody after mother found gun in his bedroom
A 16-year-old Shaler Area High School student who led police on a search for nine hours Thursday after his mother found a gun on his bed was taken into custody late in the afternoon. Multiple law enforcement agencies searched Shaler and surrounding neighborhoods with a drone and dogs for the...
Man stabbed in shoulder near Homewood intersection
A man was hospitalized Wednesday morning after being stabbed in Homewood. Pittsburgh police said they found the injured man, who had been stabbed in the upper shoulder area, around 9 a.m. near the intersection of Frankstown and North Homewood avenues. Authorities have not named the victim. Police said “the victim...
Government officials join fight against ‘designer Xanax’ that’s killed dozens in Western Pa.
Pennsylvania’s attorney general has joined a growing call for emergency action against bromazolam, a dangerous drug often dubbed “designer Xanax” that has killed hundreds — including dozens in Allegheny and Westmoreland counties. In a letter sent last week to the federal Drug Enforcement Administration, Attorney General Dave Sunday and others...
