Police still seeking 2 men in connection with fatal shooting in Jeannette

Two men with whom authorities want to talk in connection with a fatal shooting in Jeannette Friday remain at large.

Westmoreland County District Attorney spokeswoman Melanie Jones said Monday that neither man had been captured and detectives and Jeannette Police were still trying to identify one of them.

They are looking for Deshawn Russell, 25, whose most recent address in court papers was Penn Hills, though authorities said he is known to frequent the Wilkinsburg, Braddock and Uniontown areas. The second man was captured on surveillance video and an image of him was released Saturday. Investigators believe both should be considered armed and dangerous.

No charges had been filed as of Monday afternoon.

Brianna Lartz, 25, of Jeannette, a mother of two children, was killed in the shooting around 9:30 p.m. on Lowry Avenue at a friend’s home. Four others were shot. They are all expected to survive.

Lartz and Russell have a 3-year-old son together, according to family members. She was waiting for Russell to bring the child to her at the time of the shooting. Lartz was hoping to move to a rural part of Fayette County and start her own cleaning and landscaping business.

Russell is awaiting action in Fayette County court in connection with an April 3, 2022 shooting outside Sail’s Inn. Uniontown Police said in court papers they identified Russell as the man seen in surveillance video pointing a gun at the shooting victim. He had been charged with attempted homicide, but that count and three others were withdrawn at the time of a preliminary hearing, according to court records. Russell remains charged with unlawful possession of a firearm.

He initially was denied bail upon his arrest in December 2022 but then posted $20,000 bail the day of his preliminary hearing — Feb. 9 — after bail was set, according to court records.

Russell is prohibited from having a firearm because of a past felony conviction in Westmoreland County, according to court papers.

Police arrested him twice in 2017 in connection with crimes in Jeannette. The first set of charges came after police said they did a controlled buy of 30 stamp bags from Russell for $180 with help from a confidential informant, according to court papers.

In the second instance, city police helped Westmoreland County sheriff’s deputies serve a warrant on Russell when he tried to jump out the window of a home on North Fifth Street, according to court papers. Investigators reported finding a pistol hidden in a couch and they chased Russell when he ran from the house.

He served 23 months in the Westmoreland County Prison in both cases, according to court records.

Anyone with information on the whereabouts of Russell and/or the other man, or his identity, is asked to call Jeannette Police at 724-527-4013 or county detectives at 724-836-1551.

Russell is described as being 5 foot, 10 inches tall, weighing around 170 pounds, with his hair in long dreadlocks. He fled the shooting scene in a light green 2012 Ford Escape.