A Pittsburgh teen is being charged as an adult for allegedly killing a man in East McKeesport.
Allegheny County Police on Tuesday announced they arrested Zylon Patterson, 17, in connection with a June 12 homicide.
Police allege Patterson is responsible for the fatal shooting of 20-year-old Keith Pelmon of Penn Hills.
Patterson is charged with criminal homicide and criminal conspiracy.
Online court documents indicate Patterson remains in the Allegheny County Jail after being denied bond. His preliminary hearing is set for Jan. 23 in Pittsburgh Municipal Court.
According to the criminal complaint against Patterson, officers were dispatched to the intersection of Pittsburgh Street and Park Avenue in East McKeesport for a report of a vehicle crash at 11:48 p.m. on June 12.
Police said a red Kia Forte crashed into two parked cars. The crashed cars were parked near the intersection of Pittsburgh Street at Walnut Alley. Pelmon, the driver, was found unconscious and slumped over — shot in the chest.
Two bullet casings and an unspecified projectile were recovered. A suspected bullet hole was found in the rear passenger’s side of the victim’s vehicle, according to the complaint.
Officers spoke with a resident of Pittsburgh Street who told police they saw a burgundy car, believed to be the victim’s car, parked in the area of 1120 Park Ave.
The driver (Pelmon) was speaking to a man standing near the curb of the driver’s side of the street.
The resident said they heard a loud boom when the car drove down Pittsburgh Street. Police recovered the victim’s phone and discovered an Instagram chat about money from June 12 between Pelmon and a user named “Da Yungest Six.”
During the conversation, Pelmon told the user he would “Be there in 18 minutes.”
Police said Pelmon also searched the address 564 Pittsburgh St. in the Apple Maps application on his phone. He would have arrived there at about 11:43 p.m. based on the the time stamp of the text message, according to the complaint.
Police later determined “Da Yungest Six” to be the display name of the user “Larimerbabyy6.”
Officers found that account to have blocked a fellow Instagram user, “eastsidekp,” about 13 minutes after the homicide.
Police obtained a warrant for the internet service provider address along Larimer Avenue in East McKeesport, which is about a two-minute walk from the murder scene.
Officers, through the course of the investigation, were able to obtain a search warrant to seize Patterson’s phone. The phone was recovered July 2.
Detectives found Instagram messages on his phone as well as location data for 564 Pittsburgh St., the same spot previously mentioned as a meeting location.
Authorities said detectives used witness interviews, surveillance video and multiple digital and forensic investigative tools to identify Patterson.
