Homicide charges expected against Pittsburgh man accused of hitting neighbor with table leg
A Pittsburgh man is likely to face homicide charges, police said Monday, days after the man he allegedly assaulted with a table leg earlier this month died from his injuries.
Man Pradhan, 34, was pronounced dead Friday from injuries he sustained Aug. 17.
Walter Jones, 54, faces charges including aggravated assault and attempted homicide, which police spokesman Maurice Matthews said will likely be upgraded to homicide.
According to the criminal complaint, Jones hit Pradhan in the head with a table leg after an altercation on Reifert Street in the city’s Knoxville neighborhood.
Jones told police Pradhan and two other men confronted him about the volume of music he was playing, and he alleged one of them had a machete, according to the complaint, and so he went into his home and retrieved the table leg. He said he feared the men would attack him, and he struck one of them with the table leg.
Detectives said security footage from the area showed Jones come into the street from the direction of his home with an object resting on his shoulder – an object later identified as the table leg, according to the complaint.
Pradhan and two other men identified as Witness 1 and Witness 2 are seen walking into the street, according to the complaint, and Pradhan and Witness 1 approach Jones while the other man sits on the curb. Police said footage appeared to show Jones menacing the two men with the table leg.
“The victim appears to be attempting to de-escalate the situation,” police wrote in the complaint. “The victim does not appear to be armed.”
Detectives further wrote that Witness 1 did not appear to be acting aggressively, though they could not tell for sure whether he had a weapon, specifically a machete.
They said Jones is seen swinging the table leg and striking Pradhan in the left side of his head “with a great amount of force,” according to the complaint.
Pradhan was taken to UPMC Mercy in critical condition, and he remained on life support when police filed the initial charges Aug. 25. He died shortly before midnight Aug. 27.
Jones remains in the Allegheny County Jail where he is held without bail. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Sept. 8.
Joe Napsha is a TribLive reporter covering Irwin, North Huntingdon and the Norwin School District. He also writes about business issues. He grew up on Neville Island and has worked at the Trib since the early 1980s. He can be reached at jnapsha@triblive.com.
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