Teen killed in Penn Hills had recent deaths in family, coach says

An 18-year-old who was fatally shot early Thursday outside a Penn Hills bar had endured the death of her mother and an older sister in recent years, according to her former basketball coach.

Leona Eunice Dailey, who was pronounced dead at 2:56 a.m. at Forbes Hospital, graduated this past spring from Penn Hills High School, according to Robert Cash, head coach of the Lady Indians girls basketball team.

“We still kept in contact. She was a very special person,” Mr. Cash said Thursday, several hours after he learned of her death from Ms. Dailey’s former teammates. “It’s heartbreaking.”

Allegheny County police said Ms. Dailey and an unidentified woman got into a fight in the parking lot outside Flinn’s Pub in the 12000 block of Frankstown Road, and during the altercation, Ms. Dailey was shot. Police were called to the scene just before 2:30 a.m.

Police said no suspects had been identified, and no further information was released .

Mr. Cash said Ms. Dailey wasn’t the type to start trouble.

“I don’t really see her starting an argument, but if somebody was disrespectful or started something with her, she’s going to let you know.”

Ms. Dailey played forward on the Lady Indians in seventh, eighth and part of ninth grade, according to Mr. Cash. But a serious recurring shoulder injury kept her off the court, although Mr. Cash said she helped manage the team and took a crack at volleyball.

She lived with another older sister for a time, Mr. Cash said, and then, after graduation, she had landed a job — at a Downtown hotel, he thought — and began living on her own.

“I know it has been really rough,

but she graduated from high school, she was a good student, she was just a great person,” Mr. Cash said. “She was nice, respectful. She was one of the most respectful kids we had dealt with.”

Mr. Cash learned of the shooting Thursday morning after Ms. Dailey’s former teammates, who play basketball in college, began texting and calling him in tears. The news caught him by surprise.

“It just hurts because I know what a good kid she was,” working on being successful and looking out for her nieces and nephews.

When they last spoke, Mr.

Cash recalled, “She seemed good, typical kid, typical teenager. She’s working and trying to figure out life, she’s living and trying to take care of herself.”

Mr. Cash lamented that an argument could have led to Ms. Dailey’s death at the end of a gun.

“Everything in this world has just changed so much, and I’m just so hurt for her and her family and her nephews, and her family has to go through this a third time,” Mr. Cash said.

“We coach these kids on a daily basis and build relationships with them, and then to have to wake up to something like this for a person who was special in your heart …”