Case against Jeannette man will proceed in fatal stabbing, despite claims of self defense

Done with work for the day, Jasmine Ross and Antwone D. Thurston II were enjoying the evening of Sept. 26 on the porch of their shared Jeannette home.

They were accompanied by a neighbor, but things turned sour when William Osselburn, 62, of Jeannette joined in, Ross said. Osselburn began arguing with the neighbor over rent money and then started insulting Ross and Thurston when they asked him to leave. Osselburn and Thurston got into an altercation that left Osselburn on the sidewalk, bleeding from stab wounds, Ross said.

He later died at AHN Forbes Hospital in Monroeville.

“He shoved Antwone and charged at him,” Ross testified Tuesday during Thurston’s preliminary hearing. “They went at it, and I guess that’s when the stabbing happened.”

A homicide charge against Thurston was held for court after testimony from Ross and two police investigators. The stabbing was reported about 9:45 p.m. on South Sixth Street.

An autopsy report indicated Osselburn was stabbed 11 times, according to Westmoreland County Detective Ray Dupilka. Osselburn did not live at the South Sixth Street row houses.

Jeannette Officer Derek Manley testified that a folding knife was found near the scene. Ross reported to police that Thurston was pushed into a shrub by Osselburn, then Thurston got up and the fight continued, Manley testified. Thurston fled the scene and surrendered the next day.

Ross testified that she and Thurston had lived together for about two months before the stabbing. She said she was fearful during the altercation and has claimed Thurston was protecting her, her three children who were inside and their neighbor.

“Bill started it first,” she said.

Thurston’s attorneys suggested he has a legitimate self-defense claim. His parents and grandmother listened to testimony during the hearing.

“It’s not a first- or second-degree murder case,” attorney Phil DiLucente said.

District Judge Joseph DeMarchis rejected a defense request to set bail. DeMarchis said DiLucente raised good points, but he believed Thurston’s level of culpability should be determined by a jury. Thurston remains held at the Westmoreland County Prison without bail.

Assistant District Attorney Christina Gongaware argued on the bail matter that Thurston was the one who escalated the fight by pulling out a knife and, while he doesn’t have a criminal record, “at the same time, there was a man who didn’t have to lose his life.”