A jury on Monday found a security guard who shot and killed a woman at a Penn Hills after-hours club guilty of voluntary manslaughter.
Chaz Jackson, 43, of Pittsburgh will be sentenced by Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge Jill E. Rangos on May 20.
After the verdict was read, Jackson, who had been free on bond, was taken into custody to await sentencing.
In addition to the manslaughter count, he was convicted of aggravated assault and reckless endangering stemming from the incident on June 2, 2024, at Ballers Hookah Lounge and Cigar Bar.
Christine Bailey, whose daughter, Stephanie Stuart, was killed that night, said it was difficult to see images of her daughter on the floor of the night club.
“This has been very hard,” she said. “It was heart-wrenching.”
Stuart was one of two people killed at the club early that morning.
Police said Jackson, who was working security there, fired the shot that killed Stuart, and the shot that wounded another woman.
Police were able to match the bullets from his gun, which had an unusual blue polymer coating, to the ones recovered from the victims.
Nathaniel Smiley, 44, of Pittsburgh was also killed, but investigators believe that shot was fired by someone else. No charges have been filed in that case.
Several people were wounded that night.
According to testimony at trial, Jackson was working security when he heard gunfire in the club.
He testified he saw three muzzle flashes out of the corner of his eye and claimed he saw Stuart holding a handgun and sweeping her arm back and forth.
Jackson said he unholstered his gun to respond, but as he did, he was wrenched backward by his friend and pulled to the floor.
Jackson said he didn’t realize he had fired his weapon until days later when he counted the bullets in the gun he was licensed to carry.
Police have said Jackson did not know Stuart or have any reason to target her.
He was the only witness to claim that Stuart had a gun.
During closing arguments on Friday, Jackson’s defense attorney, Frank Walker, argued his client acted out of self-defense. But the prosecution urged the jury to find Jackson guilty of third-degree murder.
In the alternative, the commonwealth argued that the jury could convict Jackson of voluntary manslaughter, which applies in a killing in which the defendant has an unreasonable belief that his actions were justified.
“Even if the story is exactly as the defendant is saying, it’s still not justified,” Assistant District Attorney Jameson Rohrer argued. “No matter how you cut this, the use of deadly force in this extremely confined space is not justified.”
Bailey, the victim’s mother, said she believed Jackson acted with recklessness.
“He’s going to jail, but I got a life sentence,” Bailey said. “Eventually, he’s going to get out.
“He destroyed my family.”
Walker thanked the jury for its work and said his client was lucky to avoid a conviction for murder. He plans to appeal the conviction.
“Mr. Jackson maintains that he pulled his lawfully possessed firearm in self defense while working as a security guard in a dark night club where firearms were prohibited, only after hearing and seeing gunshots and muzzle flashes,” Walker said.
