Jury convicts Munhall man who shot girlfriend 17 times of 1st-degree murder

An Allegheny County jury on Monday found a Munhall man guilty of first-degree murder in the 2018 shooting death of his girlfriend.

The jury deliberated for about five hours on Friday afternoon and Monday morning before convicting Darion Abel of first-degree murder, burglary and carrying a gun without a license.

Abel, wearing the same navy blue suit as he had on throughout the trial, stood and looked forward as the verdict was read, his head bowed.

When he left the court eight minutes later, he remained stoic, keeping his gaze fixed forward and avoiding the victim’s family

Abel, 27, will be sentenced Dec. 17 by Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge Thomas E. Flaherty. He faces a mandatory sentence of life in prison without parole.

Prosecutors said Abel shot Miranda Grimm-Gilarski 17 times on Nov. 17, 2018, in her Munhall home. Attorney Patrick Thomassey, who represents Abel, did not dispute that.

Abel then drove directly to the Munhall police station and turned himself in, another point Thomassey did not challenge.

Thomassey, however, argued his client was guilty but mentally ill.

The Allegheny County District Attorney’s Office fought back against that characterization and produced an expert witness, a psychiatrist, who testified Abel was able to form the intent to kill prior to the shooting.

At 11:40 a.m. Monday, the trial’s sixth day, a dozen sheriff’s deputies filled the courtroom on the Allegheny County Courthouse’s third floor as the jury foreman read the panel’s verdict.

One of the deputies advised Miranda’s family and others in court to stay composed while the verdict was read.

Grimm-Gilarski’s parents abided. They said nothing.

But the moment the murder conviction was announced, Dennis Grimm, Grimm-Gilarski’s father, silently lunged forward in his courtroom chair and punched his fist toward the floor in celebration. Her mother, Angelique Grimm-Gilarski, collapsed on her husband’s left shoulder and wept.

The family declined comment after the verdict.

Grimm-Gilarski was 19 and had been in what one witness described as a “rocky” relationship with Abel when police say he killed her while she was babysitting her stepsister.

Abel took the stand in his own defense and admitted he shot Grimm-Gilarski. He spent much of the trial silent, his head often bowed downward while sitting aside his attorney.

Abel testified he intended to show up at Grimm-Gilarski’s house and kill himself but instead kicked in her door and started firing. Family members said Abel was banned from entering the Louise Street home.