Family of Baby Marcus files complaint against Allegheny County DA’s office
The family of a toddler slain in a 2013 murder has filed a victims’ rights complaint against federal law enforcement and the Allegheny County District Attorney’s office.
The petition was filed Monday in federal court by Jameela Tyler, mother of victim Marcus White Jr., also known as Baby Marcus. Her sisters, Shedayah Tyler and Kadejiah Tyler, who also were victims in the 2013 shooting, are petitioners in the filing that asks for the investigation in the case to be reopened into all potential suspects, and requests that the investigation be handled by either state or federal prosecutors.
The petition alleges failures by prosecutors under both the state and federal Crime Victims’ Rights Act because Marcus’ family learned of an admission to the baby’s killing from media instead of being told by investigators.
Baby Marcus was killed when three shooters fired on a cookout on East Hills Drive in East Hills on May 21, 2013. He was being held by his aunt, Shedayah Tyler, at the time of the shooting. A bullet that passed through Ms. Tyler killed Marcus.
On Saturday, police arrested Gregory Parker, 22, of Wilkinsburg, and charged him with homicide in the case.
The 2013 shooting received renewed attention recently when Parker was listed as a witness in the case of a mass shooting that killed five people and an unborn child in Wilkinsburg in 2016. Parker, referred to in court documents at “Witness 3,” was not called to the stand to testify.
“Regarding ‘Witness 3’ from the Wilkinsburg Massacre trial, the District Attorney, Homicide Detectives, and ATF Agent were all aware of this individual’s involvement in the Baby Marcus murder,” the petition states.
“While it is unclear whether ‘Witness 3’ was the actor who actually killed Baby Marcus, it is clear that ‘Witness 3’ possessed enough information related to the 2013 shooting to provide all of the respondents in this matter with probable cause to execute arrest warrants, question suspects, and to prosecute the murder of Baby Marcus,” according to the petition filed by attorney Paul Jubas Monday.
In response, Mike Manko, a spokesman for District Attorney Stephen A. Zappala, said, “Today’s filing is wrong on the facts and wrong on the law. That said, our office deals with frivolous matters on a regular basis, and this will be dealt with in due course.”
Both the federal bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms and Allegheny County representatives said they do not comment on legal matters.