Charges have been dismissed against one of two men charged in the 2016 Wilkinsburg mass shooting case.

Robert Thomas, 31, was taken back to the Allegheny County Jail about 9:30 a.m. Monday after Judge Edward J. Borkowski granted a defense motion made last week to dismiss the six counts of homicide, three counts of aggravated assault and other charges.

The motion, filed by Thomas’ attorney Casey White, alleged that prosecutors had scant evidence against him. Thomas is being held at the jail on drug charges that were re-upped after his arrest in connection with the shooting and is expected to be released Tuesday.

Cheron Shelton will proceed to trial Monday morning as scheduled. He faces the same charges in connection with the March 9, 2016, shooting that killed five adults and an unborn child. He could face the death penalty if convicted.

White wished Shelton’s attorneys good luck as he and co-counsel Michael Machen left the courtroom.

The motion came after Deputy District Attorney Kevin Chernosky and Assistant District Attorney Lisa Pellegrini agreed not to call an unnamed jailhouse witness known only as Witness 3. The individual was set to be the prosecution’s main witness against Thomas.

“They are treacherous waters — we know that from experience,” Borkowski said of cooperating witnesses.

Questions about the witness’s credibility arose last week when it came to light he offered information in a dozen other cases and was alleged to have confessed to a part in a 2013 drive-by shooting that killed a 15-month-old. It was also revealed that Allegheny County Police offered relocation services and financial assistance in exchange for information.

Chernosky and Pellegrini said they had enough evidence from cellphone records, video surveillance and interviews to make their case against Thomas.

White said Thomas never admitted the cellphone number police believe he used that night was his and information gleaned from cellphone towers doesn’t necessarily place him at the crime scene. Additionally, he said, the original criminal complaint against Thomas and Shelton relied on information from two jailhouse witnesses who since have been excluded from the case.

“In short,” White wrote in his motion, “the underlying crux of the Commonwealth’s case is that (Thomas) was at or near the scene when five individuals and an unborn child were killed. To date, however, the Commonwealth has failed to produce any physical evidence or eye-witness testimony that (he) committed the crimes charged.”

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