Man pleads guilty to killing Uber passenger in Pitcairn

A Wall man will spend at least 17½ years in state prison after pleading guilty Monday to third-degree murder in the death of an Uber passenger.

Finel Javon Thompson, 23, was charged with killing Kaliq Dade, 20, of McKeesport as Dade rode as a passenger in the back seat of an Uber in Pitcairn in 2021.

As part of a plea agreement entered before Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge Kelly Bigley, Thompson will serve 17½-40 years in state prison.

Thompson also pleaded guilty to conspiracy, carrying a firearm without a license and reckless endangerment.

According to Assistant District Attorney Matthew Robinowitz, on the afternoon of Aug. 20, 2021, Dade got in the back seat of a Toyota Camry heading from McKeesport to Pitcairn when a burgundy Chrysler 200 began following the car.

At one point, when the vehicles stopped, three people got out of the Chrysler, including Thompson, and fired at Dade, striking him multiple times.

The Uber driver was not hurt.

A Pitcairn police officer, who was only a block away at the time, saw the Chrysler leaving the scene and followed it.

Although the officer was unable to stop the car, Robinowitz said, he found two sweatshirts that had been thrown from it in the middle of Broadway Avenue.

DNA from the red sweatshirt, Robinowitz said, matched Thompson, as did DNA recovered on a Gatorade bottle in the back seat of the Chrysler.

The vehicle was stopped a short time later in Turtle Creek, and police arrested its lone occupant, Johnathon Dawson, 22, of White Oak. Thompson wasn’t charged until June 2023.

Dawson pleaded guilty in September to criminal conspiracy to commit homicide and was sentenced to serve nine to 18 years in state prison, according to court records.

Investigators said that when they recovered the Chrysler, they also found a police scanner which had been purchased that day.

The receipt from the store matched Thompson’s bank card.

During Monday’s hearing, Thompson apologized both to the victim’s family and his own.

“Mr. Thompson is taking responsibility for his role in that,” said defense attorney Owen Seman. “He understands nothing he does can undo that. He’s going to be dealing with this for the rest of his life.”

Robinowitz read a letter from Dade’s grandmother, Angela Redding, on behalf of their family.

In the letter, Redding said the family’s pain is immense. They described Dade and loving, fun and full of talent. His mother, the statement said, has suffered physically and mentally since her son’s death.

“A piece of her is missing,” the letter said.

The family wanted Thompson to go to prison for the rest of his life.

“He displayed no mercy to Kaliq.”

The family called it a senseless crime, including exposing the Uber driver to potential injury.

“What did it achieve?”