Suspect in Stowe death turns himself in to police
The witness was surprised that Peyton Wiser, 16, and Tiawaun Henley, 26, were together.
After all, according to what the witness told police, the pair had had a recent falling out over a marijuana deal. The witness claimed that the teen had ripped off Henley, 10 years his senior.
But on Sunday afternoon, the witness said, Henley called to say that the two acquaintances were with each other in Stowe, according to police.
There was yelling and banging, police said. Then the call dropped.
The witness tried to call back, but no one answered. When the witness got a call back from the number — possibly a pocket dial, the witness thought — the only sound was the wind.
Two minutes later, at 3:35 p.m., Stowe police were sent to the 200 block of McCoy Road for a shooting. They found Henley shot multiple times. He was rushed to Allegheny General Hospital in critical condition; he was pronounced dead at 1:22 p.m. Monday. The Allegheny County medical examiner’s office said Henley died from a gunshot wound to the head and ruled the death a homicide.
Detectives searching for the shooter quickly zeroed in on Peyton J. Wiser, a Sto-Rox School District student who lived a few blocks from the shooting. They got an arrest warrant, and on Monday afternoon he turned himself in. He is charged with aggravated assault and possession of a firearm by a minor.
At the crime scene, according to a criminal complaint against the teen, police found an empty cellphone case with his student photo ID card inside a wallet attachment.
Police said the witness was with Henley until just before the shooting. A second unnamed witness told police that someone could be heard yelling in the street for a phone. The witness saw a man bending to pick up a phone and then another man pulling out a gun. Gunshots were heard, the complaint said.
Allegheny County police detectives found a nearby home on the 600 block of Benwood Avenue with surveillance video that captured the shooting. Two men are seen running down Seventh Street, police said, They disappear from view, and then a puff of smoke can be seen across the street.
The victim falls down, according to the complaint, and the other man picks something up before running off.
A Stowe police officer identified the person running away as Peyton Wiser, as did the first witness when shown a still photo, the complaint said.