Jury convicts Wilkinsburg man in 2022 killing of Homewood teen

A jury on Monday found a Wilkinsburg man guilty of first-degree murder in the 2022 shooting death of a 15-year-old boy.

Shaun Scott, 21, faces a minimum mandatory sentence of 35 years to life in prison since he was a juvenile at the time Dayvon Vickers was killed.

Scott, who is scheduled to stand trial in November for the fatal shooting of another teen, Maleek Thomas, showed no visible reaction as the verdict was read in a Downtown Pittsburgh courtroom.

But in the back of the gallery, Camille Baskins, Thomas’ mother, cried tears of joy.

“I can’t wait for my turn,” she said.

Scott’s trial before Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge Elliot Howsie began Wednesday. The jury started deliberating around midday Monday, returning to the courtroom a short time later with several questions. They asked to rewatch a video from the crime scene, to look at cellphone evidence and be reinstructed on reasonable doubt.

The jurors then returned with their verdict just after 4 p.m., finding Scott guilty on all counts, including carrying a firearm without a license and possession of a firearm by a minor.

Scott, who was 17 at the time of Dayvon’s shooting, will be sentenced Jan. 15. He could get life in prison without parole.

Police said that Scott and another person were on Frankstown Avenue just after 6 p.m. on March 30, 2022, when they saw Dayvon on a minibike across the intersection.

Scott, investigators said, fired three shots. One struck Dayvon in the head.

He died a short time later.

The pants

Using video from the street and inside a convenience store, Pittsburgh police identified the shooter as Scott by the next day.

However, he wasn’t charged in Dayvon’s slaying until July — after, police said, he killed Thomas, 18, on June 24, 2022, in the Hill District.

On July 1, 2022, police served a search warrant at Scott’s house on Princeton Boulevard in Wilkinsburg. It was there, they said, that they recovered distinctive black pants believed to have been worn by Dayvon’s killer that day — and visible in the various surveillance videos.

The pants featured large white decals on the front, including the word “hustle,” an image of a chicken, a melting smiley face emoji and a skull and crossbones.

During closing arguments on Monday, defense attorney Frank Walker focused extensively on that singular piece of evidence.

“The pants. The pants. The pants,” Walker said.

Sure, he said, the pants are distinctive.

“But are they custom?” Walker asked. “The only pants (like that) in Allegheny County?”

Walker told the jury there was reasonable doubt in the case — another person was arrested for having the gun used in Dayvon’s killing.

On the first day of Scott’s trial, Jaquae Horton testified that he was arrested carrying the murder weapon.

Horton told the jury he was with Scott and two other people on June 12, 2022, when police pulled up behind their car. When Scott realized the police were there, he threw the gun toward Horton and ran, Horton said.

Horton, who testified that Scott admitted to him that he killed Dayvon, ran last and got caught. He later told officers it was Scott’s weapon.

Still, Walker noted, Horton pleaded guilty to the gun charge — as well as robbery, receiving stolen property and theft.

He got probation.

“He walked in this courtroom. He walked right out,” Walker said. “I’m asking for a verdict worthy of the evidence you heard, not that is worthy of the evidence you expected to hear.”

Weighing all the evidence

But in his closing, Assistant District Attorney Matthew Robinowitz told the jury to look at the case collectively.

“It’s not based on one piece of evidence,” he said. Instead, he continued, much of the evidence, is “mutually reinforcing.”

Video inside the market, Robinowitz said, showed Scott’s face. The same video, the prosecutor said, showed Scott peering through the window at the front of the store.

“Who’s he looking for? He’s looking for Dayvon Vickers,” Robinowitz said. “At 6:06, he sees what he’s looking for.”

He urged jurors to put all of the facts together — including what they know about the pants.

“They’re found in the bedroom of the person who has already been identified by two police officers as being the shooter in this case,” he said.

Robinowitz said the defense wanted the jury to take Horton’s testimony in isolation.

“I don’t think you can do that in this case,” the prosecutor said. “It’s pretty obvious … the person in the black sweatshirt who committed the shooting is not Jaquae Horton.”

He noted that investigators also found Scott’s fingerprints on the window of the car from which Horton fled.

“You can believe what Mr. Horton told you,” Robinowitz said. “It’s credible, and it’s backed up by other evidence.”

Baskins, who attended most of Scott’s trial, said she was nervous when the jury asked its questions.

“Not everyone gets these outcomes for their loved ones,” she said. “People need to show that the victim was loved.

“The jury got it right.”