PITTSBURGH – One of two men who was accused of murdering six people and an unborn child in a mass shooting in Wilkinsburg in 2016 is now suing Allegheny County and a number of police officials for malicious prosecution.
Cheron Shelton filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania on Feb. 11 versus Allegheny County, its Police Superintendent Coleman McDonough, its Police Homicide Command Officer Scott Scherer, its Police Homicide Dets. Stephen Hitchings, Todd Dolfi, Thomas Foley, Patrick Miller (Deceased), Patrick Kinavey and Pittsburgh Police Det. Andrew Miller.
According to county police authorities, Shelton and another man named Robert Thomas used an assault rifle to open fire on guests of a backyard barbeque cookout on March 9, 2016, at a residence on Franklin Avenue in Wilkinsburg.
As a result of the shooting, five people and an unborn child died at the scene, while another man who was paralyzed from his wounds died in 2020.
“Plaintiff was arrested on March 25, 2016 as pretext for the defendants’ efforts to attempt to coerce and manufacture a claim against plaintiff Shelton related to his involvement in the Wilkinsburg Massacre. Despite having no physical evidence, eyewitness testimony, or DNA evidence linking plaintiff to the events of the Wilkinsburg Massacre, plaintiff was incarcerated for over four years, pending investigation and prosecution of the Wilkinsburg Massacre,” the suit says.
After a jury trial with three days of deliberation, Shelton was found not guilty of all the counts against him on Feb. 14, 2020.
Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge Edward J. Borkowski threw out the prosecution against Thomas only hours before opening statements were scheduled to be made, since prosecutors explained they would not call a jailhouse witness against him, and therefore, could not prove his guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
Meanwhile, Shelton claims that the defendant officers committed perjury in an attempt to place blame for the crime on him, used false information given by confidential informants of dubious quality and withheld exculpatory evidence which may have aided his case.
“The charges brought against Mr. Shelton were based largely on unsupported and unreliable information provided by jailhouse informants, and information manufactured by confidential informants coerced by law enforcement and the district attorney in exchange for immunity related to other crimes,” the suit says.
While awaiting trial on capital crimes that carried the death penalty, Shelton was incarcerated for four years and allegedly deprived of his constitutional rights.
At the present time, Shelton is serving an eight-year federal prison term for possession of a stolen gun – as Thomas is currently incarcerated at the Allegheny County Jail on domestic violence charges, including unlawful restraint, strangulation and kidnapping.
For counts of malicious prosecution, due process violations, civil rights conspiracy, failure to intervene, supervisor liability, a Monell claim and state law claims of malicious prosecution and abuse of process, the plaintiff is seeking compensatory damages and punitive damages in amounts to be determined at trial, a trial by jury, pre-judgment and post-judgment interest and recovery of plaintiff’s costs including reasonable attorney’s fees and any and all other relief for which the plaintiff may be entitled.
The plaintiff is represented by Max Petrunya in Pittsburgh.
The defendants are represented by Dennis R. Biondo Jr. and Shelley K. Rohrer of the Allegheny County Law Department, also in Pittsburgh.
U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania case 2:22-cv-00266
From the Pennsylvania Record: Reach Courts Reporter Nicholas Malfitano at nick.malfitano@therecordinc.com