Two men ordered to stand trial in cookout shootings

Two men accused of gunning down a crowd of people at a Wilkinsburg cookout in March were ordered held for trial Friday after a marathon preliminary hearing in a courtroom packed with spectators, reporters and a heavy contingent of sheriff's deputies.

District Judge David Barton, describing the killings of five people and an unborn child on March 9 as “remarkably callous,” said no single piece of evidence convinced him to hold Cheron Shelton and Robert Thomas for court on all counts.

But after listening to more than four hours of testimony from an array of police officers, he said the government had met its burden to show that the two were more likely than not to have committed the crime.

Detectives said they were able to use video surveillance cameras to track the men’s car, a white Lincoln, traveling to and from the shooting scene at 1304 Franklin Ave. and to watch a man they say is Cheron Shelton retrieving a long object from his mother's house on Nolan Court in Homewood before the shootings.

Police believe the object is the assault weapon he is accused of using in the murders.

The same car was later seen on video surveillance back at the Nolan Court address, and both men are seen entering the house, police said.

Sgt. Mike Adams of the Wilkinsburg police was the first to spot the

car the night of the killings.

As he responded to the sound of gunfire — he said he heard 10 to 15 “rhythmic shots” like those at a firing range — he saw a man dressed in a dark shirt get into a white sedan in the 1400 block of Franklin Avenue.

“He was very calm, not sweating,” the sergeant said.

He said he stopped his patrol car to look inside to try to make eye contact, but the man wouldn’t look at him.

“I thought maybe he was just someone going to work or something,” he said.

As he drove on to the shooting scene, he said, he recognized that the car might be important so he memorized the license plate after reading it through his side mirror. He later gave the plate number to county detectives, who traced the registration to Shelton's mother.

That eventually led to a search of the house, where police found assault rifle ammunition and other evidence.

In addition, the judge said a letter that Shelton wrote from jail in which he asks “Pops” to instruct Thomas to get rid of the evidence — presumably the assault weapon — “I believe indicates a consciousness of guilt.”

Judge Barton said the case against Thomas is more difficult for the prosecution.

But he said phone records showing multiple calls and texts between the two men before and after the murders, as well as Thomas’ admission to police that he is one of the men seen in the video surveillance from Nolan Court after the shootings, was enough to hold him.

The judge also heard testimony from a detective who said a jail inmate told him both men confessed in separate jailhouse conversations. But the judge said he would disregard that testimony as hearsay.

Lawyers for the accused argued that the state’s case should be thrown out because the district attorney’s office has no direct evidence, such as a DNA match or eyewitness testimony.

“I would submit to you that this case is circumstantial,” said Randall McKinney, Shelton’s lawyer. “It's a weak circumstantial case.”

Casey White, Thomas’ lawyer, made a similar claim, saying there is “zero” evidence to put his client at the scene and only a video to put him at Nolan Court after the shootings.

Shelton, 29, and Thomas, 27, are accused of killing five adults and an unborn child.

Detectives said the motive was revenge in that Shelton wanted to kill Lamont Powell, 24, a suspect in the killing of Calvin Doswell in 2013. Doswell and Shelton were friends.

Police said Shelton and Thomas received a call from someone on March 9 alerting them to a Facebook posting showing Powell at the Franklin Avenue barbecue.

Detectives believe Thomas and Shelton then drove to the house, where Thomas opened fire with a handgun to herd the crowd toward the home’s back porch while Shelton shot them with an assault rifle at close range.

Police said the men fired 48 shots.

Killed were Chanetta Powell, 25, who was eight months pregnant; Jerry Shelton, 35; Tina Shelton, 37; Brittany Powell, 27; and Shada Mahone, 26.

All of the victims suffered multiple gunshot wounds. One of them, Brittany Powell, was hit 25 times. Lamont Powell, the intended target, was wounded.