North Side woman jailed for assaulting mother now faces homicide charge in her death

Police have charged a Reserve Township woman with delivering the bone-breaking punch that caused her 73-year-old mother’s death — just days after the Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office ruled the mother’s death a homicide.

Krystal Slepski, 43, punched Patricia Kachinko in the chest during a June 2 argument at Kachinko’s Troy Hill home, according to a criminal complaint. Kachinko was a thin woman who suffered from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and relied on an oxygen tank to breathe.

First responders transported Kachinko, who suffered from labored breathing after the attack, to Allegheny General Hospital in Pittsburgh for evaluation.

She died 22 days later.

An autopsy noted Kachinko’s sternum was fractured between her fourth and fifth ribs, police said.

Slepski has been held without bail in the Allegheny County Jail since June 3, when police charged her with simple assault.

Over the weekend, Pittsburgh police added two charges to Slepski’s court docket. One was robbery; the other, homicide.

Slepski was arraigned in a Pittsburgh courtroom Tuesday afternoon. A district judge again denied her bail.

“No conditions can ensure community safety,” District Judge Jehosha Wright wrote in court records.

The Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office has identified Kachinko’s cause of death as respiratory complications caused by blunt force trauma to the chest. Her death was ruled a homicide last week.

Kachinko’s family Tuesday declined to comment on the new charges.

The incident

Authorities last week provided few details about Kachinko’s death.

Police initially declined to say whether the assault against Kachinko and her June 24 death were connected. The Allegheny County District Attorney’s Office declined to comment.

Pittsburgh police were first dispatched to Kachinko’s home at 1804 Ley St. around 6:15 p.m. June 2, according to a criminal complaint.

Slepski was arguing with her boyfriend, the complaint said. Kachinko called police after Slepski punched the boyfriend in the face.

After police left without pressing charges, Slepski “accused Kachinko of calling the police on her and began harassing her,” the complaint said.

During their argument, a third person — identified in court papers only as Witness 1 — called Kachinko to check in on her.

Call 911, Kachinko told the witness, according to the complaint.

“There was, like, no calming her down,” Kachinko added, according to the complaint.

Police said Slepski then grabbed Kachinko’s phone and hung up. The witness tried to call back numerous times — unsuccessfully. Then, the witness called 911.

The argument between Kachinko and her daughter soon turned physical, the complaint said. At one point, Slepski punched her mother, with a closed fist, in the chest.

Police returned to the home and, the next day, charged Slepski with one misdemeanor count of simple assault.

Slepski was denied bail a second time on June 24, the day her mother died. She remained in the Downtown lockup Tuesday. Court records do not list her attorney.

Slepski was charged over the weekend with robbery because she injured her mother “in the course of committing a theft,” the complaint said, without elaborating.

Pittsburgh police did not respond Tuesday to phone calls and text messages seeking comment.

Kachinko was one of 11 homicide victims in Allegheny County in June, two of whom died in Pittsburgh, records show.

Suspect’s previous charges, eviction

Kelly Balint, Kachinko’s daughter, previously told TribLive she does not want to speak about her mother’s death or the allegations against her older sister.

“I was very close with my mom — we spoke by phone every day,” said Balint, 36, whose Reserve home is just a five-minute drive from her mother’s Troy Hill home.

Kachinko and her husband of 43 years, Albert, grew up on Pittsburgh’s North Side and raised their two daughters there, Balint said. The family moved into Troy Hill about 25 years ago.

Recent court documents illustrate some of the recent turmoil in Slepski’s life.

In December 2023, a creditor took her to court over $2,100 in credit card debt. The case was settled in January.

In January 2024, Reserve filed a lien against Slepski’s home, court records show. Officials claimed she owed about $3,500 in unpaid water and sewer bills.

In later 2023, U.S. Bank alleged Slepski stopped paying the mortgage on her Reserve home, court records show. Within seven months, she owed the bank nearly $50,000.

The bank later foreclosed on the loan and took the home through a sheriff’s sale, court records show.

Slepski was being evicted the same day she allegedly assaulted her mother.

Slepski also previously was charged in an alleged assault.

In May, Pittsburgh police charged Slepski on one misdemeanor count of simple assault. The incident involved Slepski and her boyfriend engaging in what police called “a physical argument.”

Slepski was taken to the Allegheny County Jail and later released on nonmonetary bail.

District Judge Xander Orenstein dismissed the case last month.