Teens accused in shootings in Jeannette, New Kensington to be prosecuted as adults

Suspects in three separate shootings over the past two years will be prosecuted as adults after judges Tuesday rejected requests to transfer their cases to juvenile court.

Khalil Lamont Myers of Export was 16 when he was charged as an adult with shooting two men in Jeannette on Oct. 21, 2020.

Police said two men were wounded following an altercation with Myers at a South Third Street home. According to court records, Austin Mathias, 19, whose last known address is Crabtree, and Anthony Bittinger, 21, of Greensburg were shot by Myers following a confrontation that also included the mother of one of the alleged victims.

Myers claimed he visited the Mathias home, where he was antagonized by the two shooting victims and others present in the residence, according to court records. Myers said he went to a second-floor bedroom, retrieved a 9 mm handgun and fired as Mathias and Bittinger brandished their weapons and threatened to shoot, police said.

Myers told investigators he fled with two friends and disposed of the handgun, according to court documents.

Defense attorney Adam Gorzelsky argued Myers, who will turn 19 this spring, was amenable to treatment in the juvenile court system, where if convicted he could not be held beyond his 21st birthday.

Westmoreland County Common Pleas Court Judge Tim Krieger, in a one-sentence court order, ruled the attempted homicide case will remain in adult court. Myers’ trial is tentatively scheduled to begin in May.

Two other teens also to face adult prosecution

Meanwhile, Amir Kennedy, now 15, was charged last summer with the July 3 fatal shooting of 39-year-old Jason Railford at Royal Court Apartments in New Kensington.

Police said Raiford was shot 11 times in a dispute over drugs and money. Kennedy is charged with first-degree murder and accused of firing the fatal shots.

Prosecutors charged four juveniles and three adults with criminal homicide in connection with Raiford’s shooting.

Defense attorney Ken Noga said a private evaluation of Kennedy found there was no evidence to support a transfer of his case to juvenile court and, as a result, withdrew the request at a hearing Tuesday.

“If not for the serious nature of the charge, he would have been recommended for a transfer,” Noga said.

The lawyer for Ernest Gary IV, 19, of New Kensington also withdrew a request to transfer his attempted homicide case to juvenile court.

Police contend Gary fired multiple shots into a car near East Ken Manor in the late afternoon on June 19, 2021.

Gary has been held without bond since his arrest. His attempted homicide trial is scheduled to begin in April.