Family seeks answers in death of Wilkinsburg teen on Parkway East ramp | TribLIVE.com
TribLive Logo
| Back | Text Size:
https://triblive.com/local/family-seeks-answers-in-death-of-wilkinsburg-teen-on-parkway-east-ramp/

Family seeks answers in death of Wilkinsburg teen on Parkway East ramp

Justin Vellucci
| Monday, October 9, 2023 4:13 p.m.
Courtesy of Greer family
Delmar Greer, Jr.

Delmar “Delly” Greer wants answers.

His 19-year-old son, Delmar Greer Jr., was struck by a car and killed on April 29 on a Parkway East off-ramp as he walked home from his car, which had broken down nearby on the highway, according to family members. State police are investigating but have made no arrests.

“I have gotten no information — nothing,” said Greer, 45, of Wilkinsburg. “Nobody has called me, not the state troopers, the DA, nothing.

“If that person (killed) was a state trooper, someone would be in jail right now.”

The Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office on Monday morning deemed Greer Jr.’s death an accident.

Greer Jr., of Wilkinsburg, was pronounced dead around 2 a.m. April 29 after authorities found the teen on the off-ramp in Churchill, the medical examiner said. The cause of death was “multiple blunt force/crushing injuries.”

The medical examiner called and left a message for Greer about two weeks ago, Greer said. Nobody in the office responded to family calls in response, one placed as recently as Friday, he said.

State police did not return a call Monday seeking comment.

Prosecutors in the Allegheny County District Attorney’s Office “will have to review the medical examiner’s report, in conjunction with any reports we have from state police,” said Rebecca D. Spangler, the DA’s chief of staff.

“After a thorough review, we’ll issue our determination,” she said.

Family members on Monday remembered the younger Greer as a kind, young man who had maintained good grades in high school. He was a member of the U.S. Army Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps, or JROTC, which bills itself as one of the world’s largest character development and citizenship programs.

Greer Jr. — simply “Junior” to his family — was the youngest of four children and is survived by three sisters, his father said. He was the sort of young man who mowed lawns in summer and shoveled snow in winter for elderly neighbors, the elder Greer said.

Since Greer Jr. graduated in 2022 from Perry Traditional Academy, located in Pittsburgh’s North Side, he had been working with his father and uncle remodeling homes in the area, the family said.

Greer Jr.’s car broke down shortly after 1 a.m. April 29 at mile marker 80 on the inbound Parkway East, near the outbound exit for business Route 22, his family said. His cellphone was dead and his car didn’t have a charger, so he started walking home to Wilkinsburg, his family said.

He lived about a mile away.

A state trooper told Greer that his son might have passed out in the middle of the off-ramp before being hit by a vehicle, Greer said. Greer Jr. had a heart condition, for which he had surgery two or three years ago, his family said.

The state trooper said a vehicle hit the teen in the middle of the road and dragged him 77 feet before stopping, according to Greer.

The driver, whom police have not named, thought he had hit a deer, Greer said the trooper told him. A breathalyzer test showed the driver wasn’t intoxicated.

“He couldn’t have been paying attention,” Greer said. “He didn’t get charges or anything.”

Police told the family that Greer Jr. was wearing all black at the time, Greer said. It turned out he was wearing blue pants and a colorful jacket, they said.

Some family members continue to be upset that, because of the extent of his injuries, Greer Jr.’s casket remained closed for viewing at the funeral home.

On the night of the teen’s death, the family said, at least two streetlights on the off-ramp weren’t working and one utility pole had been damaged or removed. They also want to know how police have used a nearby PennDOT camera to investigate accidents but told the Greers the camera did not record Greer Jr.’s death.

“Since this is an accident now, I can go after PennDOT,” said Greer, who said he is considering legal action against the transportation agency. “That pole should have been up and those lights should have been on.”

PennDOT officials in Pittsburgh and Harrisburg did not respond Monday to numerous calls and emails.

The Greers continue to struggle moving on without “Junior.” But they have not forgotten him.

On what would have been Greer Jr.’s 20th birthday on Sept. 24, the family held a candlelight vigil. Next year on the anniversary of his death, they are planning a special balloon release.


Copyright ©2025— Trib Total Media, LLC (TribLIVE.com)