Leechburg man accused of shooting woman in face to be released from jail while awaiting trial

A Leechburg man accused of shooting a woman in the face before shooting himself will be released from jail while he awaits trial.

Roy Edward Berry Jr., 49, was granted a $10,000 non-monetary bond Tuesday after he waived his preliminary hearing.

Berry had been in the Westmoreland County Prison since being released from the hospital and turning himself in. He doesn’t have to pay the bond unless he violates his terms of release. District Judge Cheryl Peck Yakopec told Berry he has to obey the law and not use alcohol or drugs. He also must stay away from the alleged victim and witnesses.

Yakopec accepted an agreement between the prosection and defense for Berry to stay with his son at a Leechburg address until his Westmoreland County trial is scheduled.

Berry was denied bond before he appeared for his arraignment June 18.

Police have said Berry was in a bedroom inside a Vandergrift home with a woman on May 5 when he fired a shot from a 9 mm handgun that went through the woman’s mouth. He then shot himself, according to a criminal complaint filed against him. The woman’s husband, who was in another room with their infant child at the time of the shooting, secured the gun until police arrived, the complaint said.

Berry and the woman were taken to Forbes Hospital, Monroeville. The woman, whose tongue was partially severed and had holes in both cheeks, was undergoing speech therapy as of early June, the complaint said.