Alleged target of Wilkinsburg killing jailed

Arrested on material witness warrant

An attorney who represents the man police believe was the intended target of the 2016 mass shooting in Wilkinsburg has asked that his client, arrested this week on a material witness warrant, be released from jail pending the start of trial.

Lamont Powell, 28, was taken into custody on Wednesday to be held at the Allegheny County Jail pending his testimony in the trial against Cheron Shelton, 32, of Lincoln-Lemington and Robert Thomas, 31, of Homewood, which is scheduled to begin Feb. 3.

Shelton and Thomas are accused of killing three of Powell’s siblings and two cousins, as well as an unborn child, at a March 9, 2016, backyard cookout.

Police have said that Shelton targeted Powell because he believed he killed Shelton’s best friend, Calvin Doswell, in 2013. Powell was never charged.

During a hearing Thursday before Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge Edward J. Borkowski, attorney Thomas N. Farrell, representing Powell, asked that his client be released pending trial.

“He got shot and was traumatized by this,” Mr. Farrell told the court. “Yet he’s being victimized again.”

Mr. Farrell argued that Powell had been working to try to support his siblings’ children during the time since the attack and that he is living with a relative.

But Assistant District Attorney Lisa Pellegrini said that was not the case. She argued that investigators have looked for Powell for months, and he always avoided them. When a detective showed up in December at one of Powell’s probation office visits to deliver a subpoena, Powell told him, “’You might as well arrest me, I’m not coming,’” Ms. Pellegrini said.

“He’s been avoiding us for four years.”

Also at Thursday’s hearing, Mr. Farrell claimed that Thomas attacked Powell that morning at the jail. Thomas’ attorneys claimed that Powell started it.

Mr. Farrell said his client’s life is in danger if he remains in the jail.

Warden Orlando Harper said the situation between Powell and Thomas was a “brief altercation” during court movement, and that neither man was injured.

“As with all incidents, this will be reviewed by leadership to determine whether policies and procedures were followed and, if so, whether any changes should be made to strengthen policies and procedures to prevent anything like this from happening again,” he said in a statement.

Judge Borkowski said he would take the question of whether to release Powell under consideration.