Suspect Ordered To Stand Trial After Feb. Shooting Kills Mother Of 6
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) – One of the suspects in a shooting that killed a mother of six has been ordered to stand trial.
Dorian Peebles, 22, was in court Friday for the February shooting death of 28-year-old Tiona Jackson in Beltzhoover.
Peebles was charged on multiple counts, including criminal homicide, in June.
Jackson's children have participated in the many vigils in memory of their mother. She was a certified nursing assistant who was gunned down outside a bar on Warrington Avenue in Beltzhoover last February.
On Friday, prosecutors put the man on the stand who says he drove what turned out to be the getaway car that night.
He was hanging out with two friends, James Lawrence and Dorian Peebles when all of a sudden his friends left the bar and got involved in gunfire for no explained reason, so far.
Prosecutors have asked us not to identify the witness for his safety.
He testified: "They came downstairs and said, 'We gotta leave.' I made a U-turn. They told me to stop in the middle of the street. They jumped out and I hear shots fired. I saw somebody fall. I was told to pull off. I was told, 'You never saw anything and keep your mouth shut.'"
The victim's family left the hearing without comment.
In the end, Peebles was ordered to stand trial, but his lawyer says more attention should be paid to Lawrence who is still at large.
"The main issue in this case is that there is a co-defendant," said Nicole Nino, the defense attorney. "A co-defendant who has not come forward to plead his innocence as our client has. There's a co-defendant who is also on a warrant for arrest for another homicide. A case in which you heard the detective testify that the casings do match that homicide as well."
The defense says more could come out at trial.
"This is a moral story," added Nino. "Unfortunately, you are judged by the company you keep, but we will prove beyond a reasonable doubt that you are not who you hang out with on any given Friday night."
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