Family demands charges against Wilkinsburg witness who allegedly confessed to toddler's killing

An attorney for the family of a toddler killed in a drive-by shooting in 2013 demanded Thursday that the District Attorney’s Office file homicide charges against the jailhouse snitch who allegedly confessed to the slaying.

The man alleged to have confessed is known only as Witness 3, and his purported role in the death of 15-month-old Marcus White Jr. came to light last week during heated testimony in a separate murder case.

The unnamed informant is set to testify as a witness in the pending trial against Cheron Shelton and Robert Thomas, who are accused in the 2016 Wilkinsburg mass shooting that killed five adults and an unborn child.

That trial, a death penalty case, is set to begin Monday.

White was shot and killed May 21, 2013, at a family picnic in the courtyard of an East Hill apartment complex. A vehicle drove into the area and multiple people opened fire on the crowd.

Paul Jubas represents White’s family, and he said the boy’s mother, Jameela Tyler, found out about the confession through social media.

“Unfortunately, my client was never informed that somebody confessed to the murder of her child,” Lubas said Thursday. “This is a blatant violation of the Pennsylvania Crime Victim’s Act. Unfortunately, (the act) doesn’t have any teeth for enforcement.”

The act, which became statute in 1998, codifies victims’ right to receive basic information about, among other things, significant actions and proceedings regarding the case as it moves through the justice system.

Jubas accused the Allegheny County District Attorney’s Office of forgoing charges against the witness because he is testifying against the defendants in the Wilkinsburg case. Also revealed in last week’s testimony was the fact that this witness has also offered information in a dozen other cases.

A statement from Mike Manko, spokesman for District Attorney Stephen A. Zappala Jr., said prosecutors cannot file charges without evidence to “sustain and prove those charges beyond a reasonable doubt.”

A grand jury was convened to glean information on “multiple instances of violent crime … connected to specific groups of individuals in (Pittsburgh),” Manko said. Because grand juries are held in secret and protected by confidentiality, he said he cannot provide more information specific to White’s killing.

“This approach has thus far resulted in numerous arrests for acts of violence, homicide and otherwise, and the work of law enforcement is ongoing,” Manko said. He said the idea that law enforcement is not giving its all to combating violence “insulting to the men and women charged with protecting our community each day.”

Jubas called the statement from Zappala’s office disappointing and pushed for Zappala to resign, citing what he perceives as a violation of the Crime Victim’s Act.

“(District Attorneys) are tasked with taking care of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. This is the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania,” he said, gesturing to the group of White’s family members gathered behind him. “And to find out that somebody confessed to the murder of your child on social media? There’s no dignity there. There’s no respect there.”

“We’re demanding closure for this family,” he said. “There are people in the courthouse just down the street here that have information that could lead to a lot of healing for this very tight-knit family that obviously loved this baby dearly.”

Courtroom revelations

At a hearing Friday regarding the Wilkinsburg case, Casey White, an attorney for one of the men charged in the 2016 mass shooting, questioned a federal agent about a video he said shows the agent referring to promises made to the witness.

Casey White is not related to the toddler or the toddler’s family.

The testimony ultimately revealed the witness had confessed to the child’s killing and Allegheny County Police had provided financial and relocation services to the witness and his family.

The hour-long hearing came a day after Casey White said he came across a recorded interview with the main witness that he said shows Neil Carman, a special agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, making promises and guarantees to the witness.

The attorney said Carman says in the video, “We are going to uphold our end, and we are going to do the best we can. There are guarantees in there … that have already been talked about, and are hoping to more than what is guaranteed, depending on what is needed (sic).”

Carman said he makes the same promise and guarantee to any cooperating witnesses — that he will tell the judge in their case that they were cooperative. He said he did not promise the witness a reduction in his sentence.

In regard to the mention of “more than what is guaranteed,” Carman said that was in reference to things he hoped to be able to offer the witness.

That could include relocating family members for safety or offering financial assistance for their relocation or relocating the witness. Carman said he’d hoped he could do that for the witness but wasn’t sure.

White asked if the ATF had made such promises to the witness.

He said the ATF made no promises of money or relocation to the witness or his family. He said another agency did. Pressed by the attorney, Carman revealed the county police had made such promises.

Carman never had a chance to answer a follow-up question asking whether the witness had been spared homicide charges in exchange for his testimony, as Assistant District Attorney Lisa Pellegrini objected before he could answer.