Man charged in fatal Club Erotica shooting guilty of third-degree murder

A Carnegie man accused of killing another man at a McKees Rocks strip club earlier this year was found guilty Friday of third-degree murder.

Charles Becher, 24, faces a possible prison term of six years in the standard guideline range when he is sentenced by Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge Anthony M. Mariani on Jan. 19.

Becher, who previously served in the U.S. Army and was an active member of the Pennsylvania National Guard, was found guilty in the shooting death of Seth McDermit, 31, of Monongahela, in the parking lot of Club Erotica on Jan. 29.

Another man, Christopher Butler, 22, of West Mifflin, also was killed. Khalil Walls, 26, is charged with homicide in Butler’s death and is scheduled for trial next year.

The jury on Becher’s case began deliberating Tuesday afternoon before reaching its verdict late Friday morning.

Throughout the three days of deliberations, they asked to review video from the parking lot of the club that showed the initial confrontation between Becher and McDermit and his friends, as well as the melee and shooting that followed.

Assistant District Attorney Ryan Kiray was seeking a conviction of first-degree murder, alleging that Becher and two female relatives he was with that night instigated the fight with McDermit and his friends. The women approached the men, and there was a confrontation involving pushing, shoving and hitting.

Becher pulled a gun from his waistband, pointed it at the men, and seconds later, swung it at the face of one of them.

The strike knocked the gun from Becher’s hand, video showed, and the men then attacked him — punching, kicking, stomping and choking him.

During the scrum, Becher was shot by someone else in the thigh.

However, he was able to reach his gun on the ground nearby and he fired it, killing McDermit.

Becher claimed self-defense. His attorney, James Wymard, told the jury that McDermit and his friends were beating his client, and that Becher at the time believed he’d been shot by the men assaulting him.

The jury deliberated charges of first-degree murder, third-degree murder, voluntary manslaughter and involuntary manslaughter.

Third-degree requires that a jury find that the killing was with malice.

Following a request from the prosecution, Becher, who had remained free on bond pre-trial, was taken into custody pending sentencing.

He remained stoic as he was led by sheriff’s deputies from the courtroom.

His family members sobbed as he left, shouting, “We love you.”

One of the jurors on the panel cried during the emotional outburst.