A McKeesport man will spend the rest of his life in prison after a jury on Tuesday found him guilty of first-degree murder for the 2019 shooting death of a man who was dating his ex-girlfriend.

Marcus Acie-Griffin, 30, is scheduled to be sentenced by Allegheny County Common Pleas judge Susan Evashavik DiLucente on March 1.

Acie-Griffin was arrested on June 22, 2019, after leading police on a chase that lasted for nearly an hour, going from McKeesport to Westmoreland County and reaching speeds of 155 mph.

He was accused of killing Kaine Williams, 34, outside of Williams’ residence on Sumac Street in McKeesport just before 11:30 p.m. on June 21, 2019.

Williams had been dating Acie-Griffin’s ex-girlfriend for about six weeks, police said.

A criminal complaint filed in the case said Williams and the woman were on the front porch of his home when Acie-Griffin pulled up in his car.

Acie-Williams got out of the car holding a shotgun and was pointing it at Williams when he said, “‘Hey, what’s up?’”

Williams responded, “‘Chill out,’” according to police, but Acie-Griffin fired three to four shots before getting back in his car and driving away.

A short time later, officers used license-plate reading cameras to track Acie-Griffin’s car to McKeesport’s Eden Park Boulevard.

Officer Eli Tubin testified during the trial last week that he began to pursue Acie-Griffin’s car, which was traveling toward Route 51 south.

Tubin said he managed to keep up with Acie-Griffin’s car as the vehicles averaged between 100 and 120 mph.

They stayed on Route 51 for about 10 minutes before turning onto a side road in Rostraver.

“I was struggling to keep up with him,” Tubin said.

Acie-Griffin ended up back on Route 51 northbound, then turned on Lebanon Church Road. He drove onto a side street in West Mifflin, lost control of his car and crashed about 20 feet over a hillside on Madison Avenue into a tree.

Tubin testified that as he approached Acie-Griffin in the disabled car, the defendant grabbed the shotgun.

Tubin said it appeared that Acie-Griffin was trying to get out of the car with the weapon, but his door jammed. The officer then testified that Acie-Griffin appeared like he was going to shoot himself.

“It wouldn’t go off,” Tubin said of the weapon.

Acie-Griffin threw the shotgun in the backseat and put his hands out the car’s window.

“You could see in his body he was just giving up,” Tubin said.

After officers handcuffed him and took him up the hill, Acie-Griffin tried to run away.

“He dove head-first off the steep embankment into the darkness of the night,” Tubin told the jury.

Officers were able to find Acie-Griffin and take him back into custody.

He was charged with criminal homicide, fleeing and eluding, aggravated assault and reckless endangerment.

His trial began with testimony on Thursday and concluded with closings on Monday.

At trial, the defense argued that Acie-Griffin acted that night out of the heat of passion when he saw his ex-girlfriend with Williams.

The jury found that the shooting was premeditated. The panel deliberated for about 4-1/2 hours over two days before reaching its verdict Tuesday morning.

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