Trial begins in fatal shooting of 1-year-old struck by stray bullet in Spring Hill

Allegheny County prosecutors admitted Friday that Marvin Hill is not the man who fired the stray bullet that killed 1-year-old Zykier Young as the child lay in bed in Pittsburgh’s Spring Hill three years ago.

But they said Hill is guilty of criminal homicide anyway, because he was armed with a rifle and involved in a shootout with two other men that evening in the Three Rivers Manor housing complex.

“The theory of this case is all about causation,” Deputy District Attorney Ilan Zur said in his opening statement.

Hill, 44, of Spring Hill, is charged with homicide, attempted homicide, aggravated assault and a gun count stemming from Aug. 24, 2020.

His trial began Friday before Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge Susan Evashavick DiLucente and is expected to last most of next week.

Two other men, Andre Crawford, 32, of McKeesport, and Devon Thompson, 30, of McKees Rocks, are also charged in the case.

Crawford is the one who fired the fatal shot, Zur said.

Thompson testified against Hill on Friday afternoon. Crawford is expected to take the stand later in the trial.

Investigators said the incident began along Rhine Place just before 5 p.m. Aug. 24, 2020, when someone fired shots at Hill. Hill retreated to his apartment, Zur said.

About an hour later, the prosecutor said, Hill came outside carrying a rifle.

Zur said Crawford, who was outside, drew his own weapon, as did Thompson. Thompson fired first, aiming five shots at Hill, who was grazed. The prosecutor said Hill retreated again, but reemerged five minutes later “immediately, indiscriminately, recklessly (fired) seven rounds.”

Crawford returned fire with five rounds of his own, one of which went through the window of a nearby apartment building and three walls before striking Zykier as he lay in bed, Zur said.

“Clearly, Andre Crawford is at fault,” Zur said. “But why is Andre Crawford shooting in the first place?”

In her opening, defense attorney Carmen Robinson said the jury should be skeptical of testimony from Thompson and Crawford.

“The commonwealth is bringing in two men who conspired to kill my client,” she said. “Conspired and shot at him, because they talked first and got a deal.”

Robinson said Hill had a right to be on Rhine Place that day because he lived there, adding, “This case is also about protecting yourself, standing your ground.”

She said Hill was unarmed when the shooting began.

The trial day finished Friday with Thompson on the stand.

Although he also was initially charged with homicide, that count was withdrawn at his preliminary hearing.

Thompson testified that the plea deal he reached with the prosecution is to plead guilty to aggravated assault, which carries a maximum penalty of 10 to 20 years in prison. Although there’s no promise as to the sentence, Thompson told the jury he could get 2-1/2 to five years in prison.

That deal, he said, is contingent on his telling “the absolute truth about everything that happened that day.”

Thompson said he was in the area visiting his aunt that day and had walked to Rhine Place to see some friends when he heard people shouting that Hill was outside “screaming and yelling that he had a gun” and was going to kill people.

“I went in a mode, I was going to be the one to stop it if someone started shooting,” Thompson said. “My state of mind was if he raised the gun to fire, I was going to fire.”

Thompson said he fired four or five times when he saw Hill raise the rifle. He said he turned himself in to police about 10 days later.

“I wanted to make sure I did the right thing with a child who lost their life,” he said. “I wouldn’t want that to happen to nobody at all.”

But during cross-examination, defense attorney Elbert Gray implied that Thompson was shooting at Hill to get revenge after he had been accused of shooting Thompson’s uncle’s truck a couple days earlier.

“My true intention was to make sure he didn’t harm nobody,” Thompson said. “I never had a beef with him.”