McKeesport woman charged with homicide after man she struck dies

Attempted homicide charges against a McKeesport woman were upgraded to homicide after the man she allegedly ran down with her car in late July died last week, authorities said.

Jakiia Williams, 33, was awaiting a bench trial on charges she struck a 72-year-old man outside the Harrison Village housing complex.

Williams told the police at the time that she’d been aiming for someone else but hit the wrong person.

County police Lt. Kenneth Ruckel said in a release Wednesday that the man, identified by the medical examiner as Leslie Robertson, died March 15. The subsequent autopsy showed that injuries from being struck caused his death.

Police originally responded to the housing complex about 2:45 a.m. on July 26 after local officers patrolling the area heard gunshots, authorities said. Officers stopped a fleeing white Chevrolet Impala driven by Williams.

Investigators alleged Williams had been involved in an argument with someone just before she got in her car, and she’d been trying to run down that person.

She missed, police said, but struck Robertson, who was on the sidewalk.

Police said the incident sparked someone to open fire, presumably at the fleeing Impala.

Williams had been scheduled to go to trial in June on charges of attempted homicide, aggravated assault, driving under the influence and other charges related to the incident. A hearing on the newly filed homicide charge is next week.