Shooter in Jeannette murder was suspect's identical twin, lawyer claims

The lawyer for a Penn Hills man accused of gunning down a man in the heart of Jeannette’s business district said the shooter was actually his client’s dead twin brother.

Defense attorney Tim Dawson told a Westmoreland County jury Tuesday that Darrelle Tolbert-McGhee, 30, is not the man pictured in daytime surveillance video along Clay Avenue on April 13, 2017. In the video, the shooter fires 12 shots at Michael Wilson, 32, of West Mifflin after the men argued in front of the Dollar General store.

Dawson said the shooter is actually his client’s identical twin brother, who was shot and killed 13 months later in Wilkinsburg.

“It was Dwayne, not Darrelle, who had a beef with Michael Wilson. Dwayne Tolbert-McGhee made his own fate. Sometime you live by the sword and you die by the sword,” Dawson said.

Dawson said Tolbert-McGhee’s grandmother is able to tell the twins apart and she’s expected to testify that the shooter in the video culled from several nearby businesses is Dwayne Tolbert-McGhee.

But prosecutors say eyewitnesses identified Darrelle Tolbert-McGhee who fired the fatal shoots.

Tanesha Bone of Greensburg said that while shopping in the Dollar General store with her two young children just minutes before the shooting, she met a man who identified himself as Darrelle Tolbert-McGhee.

“He approached me, and we exchanged numbers,” Bone testified. “He spoke first and said, ‘Hey, pretty lady, how are you doing?’ I had never seen him before and I asked what he was doing. He said he had family in the area and I gave him my number.”

Bone said Tolbert-McGhee also approached Wilson in the store, and the two men appeared to argue about money.

Assistant District Attorney Pete Caravello showed Bone video of the shooting and said the man who fired the fatal shots was the same person she spoke with.

Tanesha Williams of Jeannette testified she spoke with Tolbert-McGhee moments after the shooting.

Williams told jurors she heard the gunshots, went outside, was approached by a man and asked him what happened. “He responded, ‘Got him,’ ” Williams testified.

She testified she saw the man get into a white van and drive off, but not before she was able to record the final four digits of the vehicle’s license plate.

County Detective William Brown testified PennDOT records revealed that a white Chevy passenger van with a license plate that had the same four digits as Williams reported was registered to a woman who shared an address with Darrelle Tolbert-McGhee.

Brown also said photo license pictures of the Tolbert-McGhee brothers suggest the men had different appearances. Darrelle Tolbert-McGhee had close cropped hair and a round face, while his brother had thinner features and dreadlocks, Brown testified.

Caravello said the prosecution contends Darrelle Tolbert-McGhee should be found guilty of first-degree murder.

“When the defendant fired 12 shots and continued to shoot as Michael Wilson turned and tried to run away, the defendant had the intention to kill,” Caravello said.

The trial continues Wednesday before Judge Meagan Bilik-DeFazio.