Man who confessed from Allegheny County Jail gets 15 to 30 years for Northview Heights killing
A man who confessed to a 2015 shooting death while he was already incarcerated at Allegheny County Jail will serve 15 to 30 years in prison after pleading guilty Thursday.
Randy Johnson, 26, pleaded to third-degree murder, robbery and conspiracy for killing Deron McCray at his home on Chicago Street in Northview Heights on Nov. 16, 2015. Common Pleas Judge Thomas E. Flaherty accepted the plea agreement and recommended sentence.
According to the criminal complaint in the case, four years after the shooting, Johnson wrote a letter confessing to the crime while incarcerated at the jail.
“‘On Nov. 16, 2015, I was on the 800 block of Mt. Pleasant Road when I decided to do a robbery at 1439 Chicago St.,’” Johnson wrote. “‘I hear the sound of a gun racking, Deron McCray opened the door, and we started to wrestle I then shot him once with the assault rifle.’”
The letter was provided to Pittsburgh police detectives who interviewed Johnson on Dec. 2, 2019.
During the interview, Johnson told investigators that he had heard that the victim had a gun and drugs — including 1,000 stamp bags of heroin, the complaint said. Johnson told the detectives, “‘I decided I wanted that.’”
Johnson said he and his brother, Joshua Johnson, and another man he could not identify, went to McCray’s home. Johnson had an assault rifle with him that he described as a “neighborhood gun, that was accessible to everyone in the neighborhood.”
The men knocked on the door, and Johnson said he could hear McCray racking his own gun on the other side.
“Johnson said the victim opened the door, and he, Joshua Johnson and the third male rushed into the house, forcing their way in. Johnson stated they all began to wrestle around when he saw the victim Deron McCray begin to reach toward his waistband area where his gun was located,” the complaint said. “Johnson stated he moved his brother out of the way and fired one shot into the victim’s chest.”
According to court records, Joshua Johnson pleaded guilty to third-degree murder in 2016 and was ordered to serve 12-1/2 to 30 years in prison.
Paula Reed Ward is a TribLive reporter covering federal and Allegheny County courts. She joined the Trib in 2020 after spending nearly 17 years at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, where she was part of a Pulitzer Prize-winning team. She is the author of "Death by Cyanide." She can be reached at pward@triblive.com.
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