Man charged in homicide was out on bond in 2 separate cases

A month before William Hoston was charged with killing a McKees Rocks teen, an Allegheny County prosecutor tried to have Mr. Hoston’s bond revoked, arguing to the court that she believed he was a danger to the community.

At the time, the 19-year-old from the West End was facing armed robbery charges. Police had arrested him in that case while he was already out on bond in a separate burglary case.

Common Pleas Judge Jeffrey A. Manning chose not to revoke Mr. Hoston’s bond or even increase the bond amounts in his pending cases. Mr. Hoston went free. A month later, on Feb. 23, he was charged with fatally shooting Jihad Cromer.

Asked Friday about his decision to not revoke bond, Judge Manning said he could not discuss the specifics of the case. But speaking generally, he acknowledged the difficulties in setting bail for defendants.

“Upholding the law and protecting society is often a difficult balancing act, guaranteeing individual rights that may collide with public safety,” said Judge Manning, who presides over a majority of the more than 2,000 bail hearings held in Common Pleas Court each year.

“This case shows the problem of setting bail,” he said. “Even with the best risk-assessment tool, we still cannot predict future behavior.”

Since August, Mr. Hoston had numerous encounters with the law. At least three judges or district judges were involved in setting bail. In one instance, Mr. Hoston did not show up for a court appearance.

Mr. Hoston now is in the Allegheny County Jail, charged with killing Jihad, 17, on Feb. 21.

Mr. Hoston went to a house on Robb Street in McKees Rocks to smoke marijuana and play video games that evening, police said, and Jihad was there. Mr. Hoston told investigators he began disassembling a gun, and it accidentally went off. The bullet struck Jihad in the head. Mr. Hoston dropped the gun and went to his grandparents’ home, police said.

Mr. Hoston later contacted Jihad’s mother and said “that she could have everything he had but he knew it could not change the outcome of what occurred,” police said. He was arrested two days later.

According to court records, Mr. Hoston was arrested Nov. 22 following a traffic stop, and officers discovered an outstanding warrant stemming from an incident in August.

Bellevue police said that at about 5 a.m. Aug. 6, Mr. Hoston climbed through a window in the laundry room of a woman’s home, entered her bedroom, pulled the sheets away from her and began to rub her leg. At the time, the woman thought she was dreaming, the criminal complaint said.

When she woke up, she found 13 missed calls from Mr. Hoston, whom she knew through her brother and had seen out the night before. The woman called Mr. Hoston to ask whether he had been in her house. He admitted he was, police said, and Mr. Hoston was charged with burglary, disorderly conduct, harassment and theft of $75 from the woman’s purse.

Magisterial District Judge Dan Butler set Mr. Hoston’s bond on that case at $5,000, and Mr. Hoston posted it through Liberty Bail Bonds the next day.

Court records show, however, that Mr. Hoston failed to appear for his preliminary hearing Dec. 1 on that burglary case. And later that day, he was arrested in an armed robbery at the Hays Manor housing complex.

According to a criminal complaint, the victim was in the hallway of a building when a man known as “Block” pulled a gun and demanded money. Mr. Hoston then walked into the hallway and asked, “Is this a robbery?” Mr. Hoston reached into the victim’s pocket and removed cash.

When Mr. Hoston appeared for arraignment the next morning, Dec. 2, District Judge Anthony Ceoffe doubled the burglary bond to $10,000 based on his failure to appear the previous day, and set a new bond on the robbery charge at $20,000. Again, Mr. Hoston posted bond through Liberty.

On Jan. 26, assistant district attorney Deb Jugan asked Judge Manning to revoke Mr. Hoston’s bonds. She outlined for him Mr. Hoston’s charges and said he was accused of committing an armed robbery while on bond for the burglary.

Garrett Larkin, of pretrial services, told the court he could not recommend a non-monetary bond based on Mr. Hoston’s criminal history.

Judge Manning agreed with defense attorney Alan Skwarla to leave the existing $20,000 and $10,000 bonds in place, and Mr. Hoston promised to abide by conditions set by the court.

“I will do everything I can,” he told the court.

About 10 days later, on Feb. 5, police at Hays Manor thought they spotted a potential drug deal and watched a car they believed was involved. Officers stopped the car and found Mr. Hoston in the back seat. They found drugs in the front and detained the driver and front passenger. Because Mr. Hoston was in the back of the car and officers didn’t find drugs on him, they released him, Allegheny County Housing Authority police Chief Mike Vogel said.

But later that same night, police interviewed one of the passengers, who told them that Mr. Hoston gave her the pills, according to an affidavit. Police obtained a warrant charging him with drug violations.

The next day, Feb. 6, the same officer who did the traffic stop saw Mr. Hoston at Hays Manor again. When they were arm’slength apart, the officer told Mr. Hoston there was a warrant out for his arrest, and Mr. Hoston ran to a wooded area, police said. Housing authority police called officers from McKees Rocks and Stowe to help search for him, but they couldn’t find him.

“They’ve been looking for this cat for quite some time,” Chief Vogel said. The warrants were also listed in a national database, in case officers from other departments encountered him.

“A lot of times these younger kids, they run like deer,” the chief said.

Fifteen days later, the homicide occurred.

“You wish you would have gotten him sooner, would have prevented the death of this young child, this teenager. You just try your hardest,” Chief Vogel said. “You do the best you can do. Every night, [officers] were out there.”