Man sentenced to life in prison for Lawrenceville slaying, dumping body in river

Victoria Gray Tillman’s words kept changing.

They were loving, as she described her first born.

And stern, as she described her son’s one instance of being disrespectful to her, his senior year in high school — and how she called the police on him.

They were proud, as she described his work as a hairdresser and with the LGBT community.

And sad, as she thought of her son’s last moments, betrayed and killed by men he believed were his friends.

And they were angry, as she explained that her son never received a proper burial because his body went missing for five months only to be found in the Ohio River.

“You know what you’ve done,” she said Tuesday, glaring at convicted killer Hubert Wingate as he sat at the defense table awaiting his punishment. “You hurt our family. You hurt your family. You hurt everybody.

“I could never forgive you. I’ve been holding on to God’s grace and his divine mercy every day.”

Wingate, found guilty in January of first-degree murder, said nothing on his own behalf during his sentencing, keeping silent as Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge Joseph K. Williams III recounted his lengthy criminal history.

“When I look at the history, I see a person who coveted other people’s property. I see a person who coveted other people’s lives,” Judge Williams said. “I see a sociopath.”

He then ordered Wingate, 32, to serve the sentence recommended by assistant district attorney Kevin Chernosky — life without parole plus 17½ to 35 years in prison.

“What makes Andre’s case so different and impactful, he was so clearly loved,” Judge Williams said.

“He affected people in a positive way, and I can feel the reverberations from everyone who spoke today.”

Among them were friends of Mr. Gray, including Nayck Feliz, who addressed his importance in the LGBT community and his work as a counselor and volunteer with Project Silk, which assists LGBT youths of color.

Mr. Gray, 34, was reported missing on Oct. 25, 2014, after his family reported finding blood in his Lawrenceville apartment, which smelled of bleach.

Mr. Gray’s beloved miniature pinscher, Boss, as well as various electronics were missing.

For months, the family and law enforcement searched for Mr. Gray. His body was found by a boat crew in the Ohio River between Follansbee, W.Va., and Steubenville, Ohio, on March 20, 2015.

Wingate and another man, Raymond Schifino, 30, were charged with homicide.

According to testimony at trial, Mr. Gray was shot and killed in his apartment on Oct. 22, and the next day, Wingate and Schifino returned to dispose of the body.

They killed his dog, dripped the animal’s blood around the crime scene to obscure Mr. Gray’s DNA, then they stuffed Mr. Gray’s body in a trash can, loaded it in a car and took it to Arnold.

There, they dumped it in the Allegheny River, first trying to weigh it down to sink and later trying to shoot holes in it.

On the first day of Wingate’s trial, Schifino pleaded guilty to theft, receiving stolen property, cruelty to animals, abuse of a corpse, reckless burning and receiving stolen property.

In exchange for his testimony against Wingate, Schifino on Tuesday received a prison term of two to six years.

Judge Williams characterized Schifino as forthright and honest in his testimony against Wingate and called him the “linchpin of the case,” because he said Wingate told Schifino he was going to kill Mr. Gray.

Mr. Gray’s family can’t understand what drove Wingate.

“We’re still in pain,” said his cousin Sandra Gray Talbert. “He damaged all of us.”

The she turned and addressed the defendant directly, wagging her finger just a few feet away from his face as she called him a “coward” and “punk.”

“I hope you experience the nightmares I do. You played God with your evil self.”