Judge sentences pair to 5-10 years in prison in connection with North Side shooting

Two Brighton Heights men Thursday pleaded guilty and were sentenced to 5 to 10 years in prison for their role in a 2022 shooting on Pittsburgh’s North Side, where a barrage of dozens of gunshots killed a 40-year-old man and injured three others.

Dayqual Allen, 22, and Andre Allen, 23, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit homicide and three counts of recklessly endangering another person in connection with the 2022 shooting death of Stephone Drayton. Prosecutors withdrew homicide and firearms charges against both men.

The Allens were the fourth and fifth individuals to be charged in connection with the shooting.

Attorney Angela Carsia, who represents Dayqual Allen, and attorney Brian Sichko, who represents Andre Allen, did not return phone calls seeking comment.

It remained unclear Thursday who fired the fatal shots on Aug. 7, 2022, that killed Drayton.

Gunfire erupted shortly before 10 p.m. on the 1500 to 1700 blocks of Brighton Place in Pittsburgh’s California-Kirkbride neighborhood, police said.

The gunshot detection system ShotSpotter detected six bursts of gunshots over 50 seconds — about 55 shots altogether, according to a criminal complaint in the case.

Pittsburgh police said they used footage from multiple cameras across the North Side and recorded video calls from the Allegheny County Jail to piece together the movements of the shooting suspects before, during and after the shooting.

Surveillance footage from the area showed four people — including one later identified as Andre Allen — in a Ford Escape jumping out of the vehicle on California Avenue and opening fire toward the scene on Brighton Place, according to the complaint.

The four took off, and another individual shot at the driver of the Escape as it fled.

Left at the scene was a red Hyundai — running, key in the ignition, door ajar — that was crashed into a parked car, according to the criminal complaint against a previous defendant.

The Hyundai had been shot multiple times, police said.

Those in the Hyundai also were seen shooting at a group of people gathered near Brighton Place before crashing into a parked car, police wrote. At least one of the Hyundai’s passengers got out of the car and continued firing toward Brighton Place.

Part of the evidence against Dayqual Allen included text messages he exchanged with his girlfriend, Amyah Harris, before and after after the shooting, according to a complaint.

“We on da north the oops talkn bout sliding,” Dayqual Allen texted Harris around 5 p.m. that day, the complaint said.

The “oops” might reference “opps,” which police said is slang for an individual’s opponents or opposition, according to the complaint.

Dayqual Allen also texted his girlfriend about 30 minutes after the shooting.

“We jus got it crackn,” he texted at 11:14 p.m., police said.

“Delete da message,” he added.

Police discovered the back-and-forth after getting a search warrant for Dayqual Allen’s iPhone.

Three people pleaded guilty to their roles in the shooting last week .

Hezekiah Nixon, 19, of Pittsburgh; Andrew Johnson, 29, of Coraopolis; and Tylajae Allen, 24, of Pittsburgh, pleaded guilty to the same set of charges the Allens faced: conspiracy to commit homicide and three counts of recklessly endangering another person.

Johnson also faced a firearms count. Allen was charged in a separate incident with possession of fentanyl, oxycodone and marijuana. Prosecutors withdrew several other charges.

Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge Kevin G. Sasinoski sentenced Johnson to 6 1/2 to 13 years in jail and Tylajae Allen to 11 1/2 to 23 months in jail.

The relationships, if any, between Andre, Dayqual and Tylajae Allen remained unclear Thursday.

Nixon will be sentenced on Sept. 2.

Also on Sept. 2, Nixon’s jury trial is set to begin in an October 2022 shooting near a Brighton Heights church following a funeral service for another shooting victim weeks earlier.

Nixon, 17 at the time of that shooting, faces attempted homicide, aggravated assault and other charges in the second case.