Washington County grandma shot, killed while sitting on front porch; 2 warrants issued
WASHINGTON, Pa. (KDKA) - A Washington County family wants answers after their grandmother was killed right outside of her home.
"No one should watch their mother die and I watched my mother die," said Courtney Ellis.
Ellis struggled to hold back tears as she talked about her mom, 58-year-old Kristin Barfield. Barfield was sitting on the front porch of her own home in Washington listening to music with her boyfriend when she was shot dead.
"They drove here and shot and killed my mother. There was no mistaken identity, they killed my mother. They murdered my mother. A mother, a grandmother, a sister, a daughter, is gone, is gone," Ellis said.
Ellis had just left the Ridge Avenue home from visiting her mom when she got a call that Barfield had been shot. Ellis said a car stopped in front of her mom's house around 5 p.m. Wednesday and someone inside the car shot her multiple times.
Barfield was pronounced dead at the hospital less than 30 minutes later.
"My mother didn't do nothing to harm anybody. She's a member of the Friendship Baptist Church, she's an usher. There was no reason for my mother sitting on her porch to get killed," Ellis said.
Late on Thursday, police issued arrest warrants for Brandon Allen and Javarr Thomas. Both are facing a list of charges, including homicide and attempted homicide.
According to the affidavit, a witness told police that they were walking up to Barfield's home when they saw a vehicle driven by Thomas, with Allen in the backseat, approach the house. The witness said that Allen pointed a handgun from the back passenger window and fired. Video surveillance corroborates those statements, according to the affidavit.
Barfield's sister Michelle Dixon lives directly across the street and said she was awakened from a nap by the sound of gunfire. When she looked out her front window, she realized the shots came from her sister's house. She ran across the street and found her lying on the ground.
"I heard the shots. I looked out the window, I seen my sister laying right there. I get over here and that fast, my sister was gone. In broad daylight, in broad daylight," Dixon said.
Police said the two suspects, who are from Washington County, are considered "armed and dangerous."
If anyone sees them, Washington City police said to call Washington County 911.