Shooting victim's father attends East Huntingdon woman's sentencing: 'There will never be a true normal'

Some days, Robert Pristas chooses to believe his son Andrew is on vacation or busy with his two brothers.

It helps him escape the reality that Andrew Pristas, 33, of Greensburg was fatally shot Sept. 20, 2020 by his ex-girlfriend at her East Huntingdon home.

“There will never be a true normal again without him in the world or our lives,” Pristas said.

Meghan J. West, 31, was sentenced Thursday to 7 1/2 to 15 years in a state prison on a third-degree murder charge. Police said she fired at least three shots into a closed door during an argument and Pristas was hit in the back.

West pleaded guilty in May and prosecutors agreed to dismiss a first-degree homicide charge.

“This was not simply a one-off incident,” said Assistant District Attorney James Lazar. “This was not in any way a self-defense incident.”

West claimed Pristas was angered by a photo on her cell phone and threatened her with violence before she took refuge behind a locked bedroom door and fired warning shots. Police said the pair had a two-year relationship and previously had lived together.

Robert Pristas said he was happy when he learned his son and West were breaking up and going their separate ways. He often heard West drunk in the background during phone calls with Andrew and said his son suffered physical and mental abuse from her.

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West had invited Andrew Pristas over to her home Sept. 20, 2020, hours after police said she attacked another former boyfriend during an argument involving cell phone pictures. She pleaded guilty to simple assault in that case for causing three cuts on the man’s face.

Wiping away tears in court Thursday, West apologized for her actions and said she has used her time in jail to reflect on how she was living, what she described as “letting sin consume my life.”

“A tragedy occurred that night and I had no ill intent of ever harming Andrew,” she said. “This whole ordeal has been very surreal and I still struggle with the reality of this.”

Judge Meagan Bilik-DeFazio said West appeared to be genuinely remorseful and that the judge took into account the defendant’s likelihood of being violent in the future after her release. She acknowledged West’s attempts to turn her life around and take responsibility, but added that neither of those things will change the events that killed Pristas.

“You just see the pain that everybody feels on both sides of this,” Bilik-DeFazio said.

Family members of both Pristas and West attended the hearing. Robert Pristas described his son as a loving man who enjoyed playing guitar and routinely jumped at the chance to help family members make home repairs.

He asked West to reflect on Andrew Pristas and the moments she took away from him and his family.

”May God have mercy on your soul because you had no mercy on my beautiful son,” he said.