4 of 7 teens charged with homicide in New Kensington shooting appear in court
GREENSBURG, Pa. (KDKA) - Four of the seven teens charged in the fatal shooting of a New Kensington man faced a preliminary hearing on Friday.
Jason Raiford, 32, was found shot to death in July outside an apartment building.
Friday's preliminary hearing focused on 15-year-old Avian Molter, 18-year-old Elijah Gary, 18-year-old Raquan Carpenter and 17-year-old Jonathan Felder.
The four suspects sat quietly as prosecutors laid out a conspiracy led by Gary. Prosecutors say Gary along with 15-year-old Da'Montae Brooks, 14-year-old Braedon Dickinson, Molter, Carpenter, Felder and the alleged shooter, 14-year-old Amir Kennedy, cornered Raiford inside a hallway in a New Kensington public housing apartment building.
Prosecutors introduced video of the moments leading up to the shooting. Detectives from the New Kensington Police Department and Westmoreland County Detective Bureau testified that Gary struck Raiford in the head with a pistol but dropped the gun. Raiford grabbed the gun as the group scattered.
Prosecutors contend the first of the seven out the door was Kennedy, who was armed with a semi-automatic long rifle and shot the victim multiple times in the head and body.
Defense attorneys said Gary and Kennedy are the only ones responsible for Raiford's death.
"My client, we saw evidence today that he was in the area and as soon as anything was happening, he extricated himself from the situation," said Adam Gorzelsky, Felder's attorney. "He went up the steps and was not involved in any assault."
All charges were bound over for trial.
As for the other suspects, Kennedy waved his charges to trial. Dickinson has no legal counsel and 15-year-old Brooks is still on the run tonight.
As for a motive, prosecutors say Raiford may have owed Gary $100 from an alleged crack cocaine deal.
