2 charged in shooting that killed infant in Downtown Pittsburgh; 1 at large

One man is in custody and another is on the run, wanted in connection with the drive-by shooting Sunday that killed an 18-month-old infant, authorities said Monday night.

Markez Anger, 23, is wanted on charges of homicide and conspiracy.

The midday shooting, at the height of the holiday weekend in Downtown Pittsburgh, killed De’Avry Thomas.

The suspected driver in the shooting was arrested early Monday morning.

Londell Falconer, 26, at first denied to investigators that he’s been involved in the Sunday afternoon drive-by that killed De’Avry Thomas, according to a criminal complaint. Confronted with video evidence of him getting out of the vehicle suspected in the shooting, police wrote, he told detectives that “I was the driver.”

Falconer’s arrest around noon Monday came less than 24 hours after the shooting that killed the infant.

The criminal complaint offers little insight into a possible motive for the shooting, which happened at the height of the holiday weekend.

Police responded to reports of a shooting at the corner of Stanwix Street and Fourth Avenue, not far from PPG Place and Market Square. First responders arrived and found the child had been shot multiple times buckled into his carrier in a Jeep Wrangler.

Investigators have been vague about the target of the shooting, noting only that it was in fact targeted and the target was not the child’s mother.

“Of course the baby was not the intended target,” Assistant Chief Lavonnie Bickerstaff said at a late Sunday media briefing, noting that “the individuals that were in the car that committed the crime – there was a target but I can’t go into who it was. But it was not the mother.”

Security footage from 1 PPG Place captured the shooting, according to the criminal complaint.

Related:

• 1-year-old victim identified in Downtown Pittsburgh shooting

Police said the footage shows a Jeep Wrangler parked on the side of Fourth Avenue with the driver’s side to the curb, with De’Avry in the second row in a baby carrier. About 2:45 p.m., a black Jeep Compass with Illinois plates turns left from Stanwix onto Fourth, according to the complaint.

The individual in the passenger seat of the Compass is sitting in the passenger-side window pointing a black handgun over the roof toward the Wrangler, according to the complaint. Police noted a gray square on the front hood of the Compass.

A few hours later, police responded to Troy Hill for a suspicious vehicle report, investigators said. They found the Compass parked with no registration plates on Tinsbury Street.

Surveillance footage from nearby East Ohio Street captured the Jeep parking there, and police noted two men matching those seen in the Downtown footage got out.

Detectives found the Illinois license plate in a nearby trash can along with cleaning supplies and a can of Redbull. A fingerprint from the Redbull can, police said, belonged to Falconer.

Shortly before 4 a.m. Monday, police received word that Falconer was at UPMC Mercy with injuries from an unrelated shooting, according to the complaint.

In an interview at the hospital, Falconer denied being on the North Side at all Sunday, according to the complaint. Later, during an interview at police headquarters, Falconer said he’d been in the Manchester neighborhood visiting family.

Police said Falconer also denied being on East Ohio Street. Confront with the video evidence, however, Falconer told detectives “I was the driver,” according to the complaint. Investigators said Falconer did not provide more detail, and the interview ended shortly after his admission.

Falconer is charged with homicide and conspiracy in connection with the shooting. Police did not offer any further information on the other man seen shooting from the Compass, nor did they indicate whether they know his identity.

Court records did not list an attorney as of late Monday afternoon.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Pittsburgh police at 412-323-7161.