Fatal barrage of gunfire on North Side ends with last of 6 defendants pleading guilty

The last of six defendants charged with killing a man on Pittsburgh’s North Side in a barrage of gunfire in 2022 pleaded guilty on Monday in Allegheny County Common Pleas Court.

Rayvon Poellnitz, 23, will serve 15 to 40 years in state prison after pleading guilty to third-degree murder before Judge Thomas E. Flaherty.

He was the final person among those accused to plead guilty in the death of Stephone Drayton, 40.

Drayton was shot and killed the evening of Aug. 17, 2022, near the 1700 block of Brighton Place.

Police do not believe Drayton was the intended target as people in two cars opened fire on a group standing on the road that night.

There were 68 shots fired from eight guns, Deputy District Attorney Emma Schoedel said.

The bullet from Poellnitz’s gun, Schoedel told the court, was the fatal shot. Three other people standing with Drayton were wounded.

Poellnitz was driving a stolen Hyundai that night with Tylajae Allen as his front-seat passenger, Schoedel said.

Two back-seat passengers in that vehicle, the prosecutor continued, have never been identified by police.

According to investigators, Poellnitz drove the Hyundai to the 1700 block of Brighton Place, followed by a Ford Escape that also had four passengers.

Poellnitz turned off the headlights of his vehicle, and was the first to fire, Schoedel said.

When police arrived, they found the Hyundai had crashed into a telephone pole. The vehicle was running, and the driver’s door was open.

Investigators found Poellnitz’s DNA on the steering wheel and inside door panel.

In addition to the murder chage, Poellnitz also pleaded guilty to reckless endangerment and conspiracy to commit homicide.

Allen, the passenger, previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy and three counts of reckless endangerment and was ordered to serve 11½ to 23 months in jail.

The others all pleaded guilty in recent weeks.

Although Drayton’s loved ones did not speak on Monday, they submitted written impact statements that were previously read in court.

In them, they said Drayton worked in construction and excelled at his job. He also was an attentive father who braided his daughter’s hair and never missed a school conference or doctor’s appointment.

Raeyah Brown, 12, said in a letter that she was heartbroken by her dad’s death.

“Y’all must not have been thinking about other people’s feelings when y’all did what y’all did,” she wrote to the defendants. “I still can’t believe he’s never coming back.

“You ruined everything for me.”

Raeyah’s mother, Leslie Brown, told the court that Drayton was their protector, their joy and peace, who was “trying to build a life rooted in love and stability.

“He was the kind of father who proudly showed up for his daughter.”

Poellnitz’s attorney, Joel Dresbold, told the court that his client’s case shows the danger of neighborhood rivalries.

“I sincerely apologize to the victim’s family,” Poellnitz said. “I’m sorry.”