A Westmoreland County jury wasted little time in rejecting a man’s claim that his identical twin was the shooter in a brazen daylight murder in downtown Jeannette.

Jurors deliberated about two hours before finding Darrelle Tolbert-McGhee of Penn Hills guilty of first-degree murder in the death of Michael Wilson, a Jeannette resident shot nine times on Clay Avenue on April 13, 2017.

Tolbert-McGhee, 30, claimed he was in Florida at the time of the murder and that the shooter was his twin brother, Dwayne, who was killed in a shooting 13 months later in Wilkinsburg.

Tolbert-McGhee faces a mandatory term of life in prison without the possibility of parole when he is sentenced. He did not comment as he was taken back to jail after his conviction.

Defense attorney Tim Dawson said he expects to appeal the verdict.

“Apparently, they convinced the jury beyond a reasonable doubt that one identical twin committed the murder rather than the other,” Dawson said. “For them to come back in two hours, it was surprising in a first-degree murder case where most of it was on video and at least two witnesses could not identify my client as the shooter.”

During the four-day trial before Common Pleas Judge Meagan Bilik-DeFazio, prosecutors contended evidence from eyewitnesses confirmed Darrelle Tolbert-McGhee was the shooter.

In his closing argument Friday, Assistant District Attorney Pete Caravello told jurors the identity of Wilson’s killer is not in doubt.

“Don’t let them confuse you. Hold him accountable,” Caravello said.

He argued that a handful of witnesses, including a bus driver who watched Wilson being gunned down, identified Darrelle Tolbert-McGhee as the shooter after reviewing a photo lineup of nine suspects.

Caravello urged jurors to believe testimony from another woman who claimed she exchanged phone numbers with a man she said identified himself as Darrelle Tolbert-McGhee in a nearby store minutes before the shooting.

Several times during the trial, jurors viewed surveillance video of the shooting. Wilson’s former girlfriend testified she knew both brothers and could tell them apart. Although not a witness to the shooting, she said the videos show Darrelle Tolbert-McGhee firing the fatal shots.

Those who best know the brothers have difficulty telling them apart, Dawson said. He argued that two witnesses said Darrelle Tolbert-McGhee was in Florida when the shooting occurred.

“You can’t convict a man of murder when he wasn’t there,” Dawson argued.

Tolbert-McGhee’s grandmother and a family friend testified he was in Orlando to clean out his father’s storage unit when Wilson was killed.

Bilal Muhammad of Orlando testified he met with Darrelle Tolbert-McGhee at a hotel in Florida on April 13 and again two days later. He said he was certain about those dates and of the identity of the man he met. Muhammad told jurors he could distinguish the Tolbert-McGhee brothers by their “spirit.”

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