Teen admits to planning fatal robbery

A teen who helped set up a drug deal that turned into a homicide pleaded guilty Thursday morning to robbery and conspiracy.

Steven Cansler, 19, will serve 15 to 30 years in prison as part of a plea agreement for the Sept. 17, 2016, shooting death of Daija McCall, 17, of Homewood.

In exchange for Cansler’s plea,

the Allegheny County district attorney’s office withdrew charges of homicide and criminal use of a communication facility.

According to Deputy District Attorney Steven Stadtmiller, Daija’s twin brother, Daijon, had arranged with Cansler, his classmate, what was supposed to be a drug sale between his sister and another person.

Cansler was described as the “middle man,” who arranged to have Douglas Lockett Jr. buy a half-kilo of cocaine for $8,000.

But when Lockett and another person, who has not been identified, approached Daija, Mr. Stadtmiller said, the plan all along was to rob her. Lockett and the other person had their guns drawn, and Daija tried to pull hers, too, Mr. Stadtmiller told Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge Edward J. Borkowski.

She was not fast enough, and Daija was shot once in the chest. It turned out that the supposed cocaine she had with her in a duffel bag was fake.

Mr. Stadtmiller told the court that Cansler made statements to police implicating his role in setting up the robbery, and the prosecution also had statements from a jailhouse snitch, who said that Cansler discussed the plan.

Cansler helped plan the robbery, orchestrated the parties’ movement, and brought them together, Mr. Stadtmiller said.

The defendant did not speak at the sentencing, and his defense attorney, Komron Jon Maknoon, told Judge Borkowski that his client had a troubled past and was just 17 at the time of the crime.

Daija’s mother, Serena McCall, told Judge Borkowski that her daughter’s death has left her son struggling, too.

“September 17, instead of losing one kid, I lost two,” Ms. McCall said. “I don’t know how to help him.

“I’m just watching my baby go downhill every day.”

Ms. McCall said her 8-yearold has told her, “’I can’t remember what Daija’s voice sounds like no more.’

“Losing her, it took my whole spirit,” she said.

Lockett was found guilty in April 2018 of second-degree murder and other felonies, including robbery, and was sentenced in July to life in prison without parole.