Teen jailed after ransacking North Side house, stabbing resident twice in the neck

A teenager remained in Allegheny County Jail on Wednesday after, police said, he ransacked a North Side home in search of a gun and twice stabbed the resident before leaving only with a baseball cap.

Isreal Moseby, 17, whose home address was not listed in court records, approached and talked with the female victim as she walked home from the Hanini Market on Brighton Road around 10:40 p.m. Sept. 7, according to a criminal complaint. The victim told Pittsburgh police she knew one of Moseby’s friends.

When the victim opened the rear door of her home to enter, Moseby “bum-rushed” her and forced his way into the home, the complaint said.

Moseby asked about the victim’s gun and, when she said she didn’t own one, he stabbed her in the neck, the complaint said. He then grabbed the victim by a shoulder and dragged her around the home while he ransacked it, repeatedly asking, “Where’s the gun?”

During the alleged robbery, Moseby told the victim he was 17, diagnosed with bi-polar disorder and “didn’t want to do this,” the victim told police.

Moseby stabbed the victim a second time in the neck, the complaint said. She “began feeling fatigued” due to the blood loss from the wounds.

The teen dragged the victim down to the basement, where she directed her dog to attack Moseby, the complaint said.

Moseby punched the victim in the face, then the two started fighting over the knife, the complaint said. The victim started screaming for help out of a nearby window that was slightly ajar.

After the victim grabbed the knife, she told Moseby “Just go” multiple times and he fled the scene back toward Hanini Market, the complaint said.

The only item Moseby stole from the victim’s house was a black, red, and white ball cap with the words “Hustle, Hustle” on it, the complaint said.

It is worth “less than $50,” police said.

Moseby was charged Tuesday with two counts each of aggravated assault, simple assault and robbery, and one count each of burglary, criminal trespassing, unlawful restraint, possessing an instrument of crime, and theft, court records show.

Charged as an adult

Moseby, who turns 18 in December, is being charged as an adult, court records show. He was arraigned late Tuesday and remained in county jail Wednesday morning on $100,000 bail.

His preliminary hearing is scheduled for Sept. 29, court records show. Moseby’s attorney was not listed.

The victim was taken to Allegheny General Hospital in critical condition, police said. She was upgraded to stable condition the next day.

The two stab wounds to the victim’s neck appeared to strike a main vein, hospital doctors told police. The injury appeared to cause nerve damage as the victim experienced numbness on the left side of her body, particularly in her left arm.

Additionally, the victim suffered a fractured rib and lacerations to her hands, due to tussling over the knife with Moseby, the complaint said.

Moseby had been arrested in February in connection with a robbery, court records show. Those charges were withdrawn in July.