Man arrested in connection with fatal shooting in Wilkinsburg
Police have apprehended a North Braddock man they say was involved in a drug deal that ended in murder.
Isaiah Thornton, 34, was arrested Tuesday on a charge of criminal homicide and two firearms charges in connection with a fatal shooting May 27 in Wilkinsburg, Allegheny County Police said.
Thornton contacted Michael Tomlin on his cellphone late on May 27 and tried to buy marijuana from him, according to a criminal complaint in the case. It is unclear in the complaint what the relationship was between the two men.
Tomlin, 32, was fatally shot in the head in his Franklin Avenue home around 11:50 p.m. that night, the complaint said. First responders declared him dead at the scene.
A 9mm bullet casing and sandwich bags filled with marijuana were found near Tomlin’s body, the complaint said.
Police used info from cellphones, tips from at least three witnesses, and footage from several surveillance cameras to track Thornton on the night of the shooting, the complaint said.
Thornton previously served jail time on at least one robbery charge and had been on parole since last year, the complaint said.
On Tuesday afternoon, police said they took Thornton to Allegheny County Jail, where he was staying as he awaited arraignment Downtown. Thornton’s attorney is not listed in the court record.
Justin Vellucci is a TribLive reporter covering crime and public safety in Pittsburgh and Allegheny County. A longtime freelance journalist and former reporter for the Asbury Park (N.J.) Press, he worked as a general assignment reporter at the Trib from 2006 to 2009 and returned in 2022. He can be reached at jvellucci@triblive.com.
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