Teen charged in fatal shooting in McKeesport

A teenager is facing multiple charges after police took him into custody in connection with a fatal shooting in McKeesport earlier this year.

Allegheny County police announced that 18-year-old Sanchez Spence, of McKeesport, was arrested Thursday afternoon in connection with the March 2023 homicide.

Police responded to the shooting at 12:08 p.m. on March 1 in the 3100 block of Versailles Avenue.

There, they found 47-yearold Robert Joyner with a gunshot wound to the head. He was later pronounced dead at the hospital.

More than seven months later, Mr. Spence, who was 17 at the time of the fatal shooting, was arrested. He is charged with homicide, among several other offenses.

Police said they connected Mr. Spence to the shooting through numerous witness interviews and surveillance footage.

According to a criminal complaint, one witness who spoke to police said they were in a relationship with Joyner. The witness, Joyner and another individual were walking to the Family Dollar on Versailles Avenue when roughly 12 gunshots rang out.

The witness told police they could hear bullets “whizzing by” their head as they ran, the complaint said. As the witness got to a safe area, they looked around and saw Joyner was shot, and the other individual they were with was unharmed.

Mounted cameras on a nearby home captured the shooting. According to the complaint, the footage showed three suspects.

All three suspects were then seen on camera running down Diana Alley toward Jersey Street and then out of frame.

More footage allegedly showed one of the three suspects from another angle. The complaint said the footage showed the suspect in a shooting stance with what appeared to be a gun in their hands. The footage also showed them with their arms extended toward the ground as they stumbled when running off.

At the scene of the shooting, police found a black iPhone — later determined to be Mr. Spence’s — in the same spot where one of the suspects was seen stumbling as they ran.

After obtaining a search warrant for the phone, police said they found multiple connections to Mr. Spence. A missed call was sent to the phone roughly four minutes after the shooting. The number that called was known by police to be that of Mr. Spence’s father, the complaint said.

More evidence from the phone allegedly connected it to Mr. Spence, including email addresses and GPS locations. Photos on the phone also showed Mr. Spence and his friends and family, as well as him with firearms, according to the complaint. A tattoo on Mr. Spence’s hand was also seen on the photos, and the tattoo was visible in the surveillance footage that captured the suspects, police said.

Police also said the three suspects were seen on more footage, which showed them changing clothes. The footage from a building on Chester Street allegedly showed their clothing, faces and builds.

A still image was taken from the surveillance footage, and police showed it to one of Mr. Spence’s relatives. The family member told police it was Mr. Spence in the image, according to the complaint.

About 30 minutes after the shooting, the three suspects were captured on footage that allegedly showed them walking up the street. A dark-colored SUV was parked in the road and the driver exited. The three suspects then entered the SUV and drove off as the original driver walked toward Crawford Village, according to the complaint.

Mr. Spence is being held in the Allegheny County Jail pending preliminary arraignment.