Text message, jail phone calls lead Pittsburgh police to suspect in Carrick killing

Text messages and coded calls made from the Allegheny County Jail helped lead Pittsburgh police to a man they allege shot and killed another man in Carrick last month, according to the criminal complaint in the case.

Elijah Terry-Smith, 23, is charged with one count of homicide in connection with the April 3 killing of 48-year-old Michael Flaherty.

Three witnesses told investigators they were at a home on Maytide Street shortly before 9 p.m. when Flaherty and a man he identified as “Cash” arrived at the home. He referred to the man as Azad Smith’s brother, and the two left the witnesses and went into the kitchen, according to the complaint.

A short while later, according to witnesses, they heard a loud “bang” and found Flaherty with a gunshot wound to his chest, police said. Investigators searched court records and determined that Smith had a brother who fit the description and age range of the suspect as given by the witnesses.

Text messages between Flaherty and a number without an assigned contact showed Flaherty was expecting someone to arrive shortly before the shooting happened, according to the complaint. Investigators said the number traced back to an individual using the name “Kashh Knot,” which is a name they said is used on one of Terry-Smith’s Facebook accounts.

Security footage from a nearby home showed a man come out of the home where Flaherty was shot and flag down a black sedan about 8:30 p.m. the night of the shooting. A man later identified as Terry-Smith gets out of the passenger seat ad goes into the home, according to the complaint, then rounds out a short time later, gets back into the car, and it speeds off.

The owner of the car told investigators that Terry-Smith – who goes by the nickname Dude – asked him to drive him to a home on Maytide Street the day of the shooting, according to the complaint. The owner stayed in the car, according to the complaint, and drove off once Terry-Smith ran out of the house.

Phone calls Terry-Smith’s brother made from the Allegheny County Jail included attempts to use code, including one relative who said, “bro baked his first cake,” according to the complaint. Investigators said they believe that to mean that Terry-Smith committed his first homicide.

Police issued a warrant for Terry-Smith in mid-April. Pittsburgh police and U.S. Marshals took him into custody Tuesday in Penn Hills.

Court records did not list an attorney for Terry-Smith as of Tuesday afternoon.