A4 FRIDAY, JUNE 24, 2016

News of charges brings relief, renews sadness

The timeline

REACTION FROM A1

Here is an abbreviated timeline of

events leading up to and immediately
after the Wilkinsburg backyard massacre (all times approximate) that was
included as part of an affidavit filed by
Allegheny County police and the district attorneys office:
March 8
Cheron LaMont C-Wiz Shelton is
released from jail, where he was being held on an unrelated charge. His
girlfriend, Channel Falls, gives him a
cellphone she bought him that day.
March 9
LaMont Powell, whose street name is
Murder, responds to a social media
post from his sister, Brittany, that he
will attend a backyard barbecue picnic
at the home she is renting on Franklin
Avenue in Wilkinsburg.
Between 8:04 and 11:45 p.m.: There
are 31 cellphone calls or text messages
between Shelton and friend and alleged
fellow HillTop 581 Crips gang member
Robert J. Milhouse Thomas.
10:23 p.m.: Shelton arrives at 1214
Nolan Court in the Pittsburgh Housing
Authoritys HillTop housing complex in
Homewood North.
10:28 p.m.: Shelton exits from the
rear of 1214 Nolan Court.
10:30 p.m.: Shelton leaves the complex in a white Lincoln Continental.
10:42 p.m.: White Lincoln Continental
seen on Franklin Avenue in Wilkinsburg.
10:46 p.m.: Thomas makes a fourminute, 33 second phone call to Shelton.
10:50 p.m.: Thomas urinates in the
corner of a dilapidated garage a few
doors away from the picnic on the
1300 block of Franklin Ave., according
to information later provided to police
by a jailhouse informant whom Thomas confides in because of concerns
about DNA retrieval.
10:54 p.m.: A gunman with a .40-caliber handgun, identified by police as
Thomas, opens fire at the backyard
picnic. His gunshots hit LaMont Powell, who police believe is the intended
target, four times. More than 20
people at the picnic flee toward the
house, barred from sideyard exits by
fences. As they get near the porch, a
second gunman with a semi-automatic
weapon, identified by police as Shelton,
opens fire. He kills four people, one of
whom is pregnant. A fifth victim dies
in a hospital. Two people other than
Powell are wounded, one of whom is
now paralyzed.
A Wilkinsburg police officer hears gunshots while on Marlboro, the affidavit
states, and moments later sees Shelton and a white Lincoln Continental at
1420 Franklin Ave., just over a block
away from the shooting.
Between 10:56 and 11:44 p.m.:
Thomas and Shelton exchange phone
calls ranging in length from three
seconds to 1 minute, 24 seconds. Three
phone calls are unanswered. Thomas
also sent two text messages to Shelton.
11:44 p.m.: Shelton and Thomas are
seen on security video jumping a fence
at 1244 Nolan Court.
11:46 p.m.: Shelton enters the rear of
1214 Nolan Court.
11:47 p.m.: Thomas enters the rear of
1214 Nolan Court.
March 10
12:23 a.m.: Shelton and Thomas are
seen on security video leaving 1214
Nolan Court and placing a black bag in
a gold Chevrolet Impala.
12:32 a.m.: A gold Chevrolet arrives at
Heart Court.
12:34 a.m.: Shelton and Thomas
drink a beer.
12:37 a.m.: Shelton and Thomas leave
Heart Court in the Impala.
2:18 a.m.: Shelton is stopped at 3020
Hebron Drive by Penn Hills police, who
are responding to a report of suspicious people at a vacant lot. Officers
lack any reason to detain Shelton, who
is allowed to go.
2:57 a.m.: Shelton returns to 1214
Nolan Court in the white Lincoln Continental.
2:58 a.m.: Thomas returns to Nolan
Court driving the gold Chevy.
2:59 a.m.: Shelton is on the phone
with girlfriend Channel Falls.
3:03 a.m.: Shelton and Thomas enter
1214 Nolan Court.
3:05 a.m.: Shelton and Thomas exit
1214 Nolan Court.
3:10 a.m.: Shelton and Thomas get in
a Buick owned by Falls and leave Nolan
Court.
3:17 a.m.: Falls makes a 10-second
phone call to Shelton.
3:42 a.m. and again at 3:59 a.m.:
Shelton makes two brief phone calls.
3:57 a.m.: Falls returns Shelton to
1214 Nolan Court and he goes inside.
4:02 a.m.: Shelton exits 1214 Nolan
Court and walks to Ferris Court.
4:11 a.m.: Shelton and an unknown
man enter a Chevrolet Malibu on Ferris
Court.

LaMont Powell, brother of Brittany, Chanetta and Jerry, was critically wounded. Police said he was the
intended target.
Neighbor John Ellis, 48, also was
shot. He spent two months in the hospital and is paralyzed from the waist
down. His mother, Aleta Livsey, said
her family is glad the men suspected
of shooting her son are being held
responsible.
They dont realize how many lives
they touched, Livsey said. I hope
that now that they see the TV and
know what theyve done, maybe ... I
dont know if it would change them,
but if you were after one person,
thats who you should have gone
after.
She said her family has been taking life one day at a time since the
shooting.
I try not to think about it, and I
start crying, and my son says, Stop
crying, so I try not to do it around
him, she said. He hasnt cried yet.
Breona Evans lived across the
street from Brittany Powells rented
home.
Im glad its over. Im glad the family has closure or maybe some type
of closure, said Evans, 21, who said
she was speaking on behalf of her
family, which has close ties with the
Sheltons and Powells.
Evans said she often spent time
at the house across the street. The
realization that she could have been
at the cookout coupled with the
loss of her friends hit her hard,
she said.
Its something you never see coming, she said.
Robby Booker was friends with
Brittany Powell and lived a few houses away from her.
She never did anything to anyone, he said. He was also friends
with Ellis.
Booker, 31, said he woke to the
sound of gunfire the night of the
shooting.
Im happy they got caught. I hope
they never get out, he said of the
suspects. Its still hard just walking past that house.

4
Cheron Lamont C-Wiz Sheltonis
accused of shooting people with semi-automatic
weapon as they flee for back door
3
2
People run toward
house for cover

Lamont Darnell
Murder Powell
shot4times

Tina
Shelton

Brittany
Powell

Robert James Millhouse Thomasallegedly

opensfirefromHazelWaywith.40-caliberhandgun

They were looking for

him, and they found him,
said Zappala, adding that
Powell has refused to cooperate despite being critically
wounded and losing five relatives in the shooting.
Zappala said that Sheltons
gun, which likely resembled
an AK-47, fired the shots that
killed Powells sisters, Brittany Powell, 27, who was renting at the home where the
massacre occurred, and Chanetta Powell, 25, whose unborn son died in the attack;
his brother, Jerry Shelton, 35;
his cousin, Tina Shelton, 37;
and Shada Mahone, 26.
Along with LaMont Powell,
two others were wounded
Tanjia Cunningham, who
was treated and released, and
John Ellis, a McKees Rocks
man left paralyzed. None of
the slain Sheltons is related
to Cheron Shelton.
The criminal complaint
filed Thursday paints Shelton as a man so bent on vengeance that he was willing to
fire into a crowd of more than
20 partygoers to kill Powell
while a reluctant Thomas
wanted to leave before the
shootings but was talked into
kicking off the ambush with
a .40-caliber handgun.
Its a case Zappala conceded is based on circumstantial
evidence. Authorities have
not recovered the two murder
weapons and have no confessions. They do have intercepts from mobile telephones
that have not been found; coded written and pantomimed
messages; the testimony of
jailhouse informants; video

Chanetta
Powell

Cheron LaMont C-Wiz

Shelton, 29, and Robert James
Milhouse Thomas, 27, were
charged Thursday in connection to a deadly mass shooting
at a backyard picnic March 9 in
Wilkinsburg, where five adults
and one unborn child died.
Three others were wounded,
two critically.
Thomas of Homewood South
and Shelton of Lincoln-Lemington face identical charges:
Criminal homicide: 5 counts
Criminal homicide of unborn
child: 1 count
Criminal conspiracy: 1 count
Aggravated assault: 6 counts
Recklessly endangering
another person: 6 counts

Anything could be a holiday for

us sunny day, rainy day we
make anything a holiday, especially
holidays, she said in March.
detail
The unseasonably warm weather
e.
v
A
in early March prompted Brittany
n
ee.n
Powell to host the cookout.
AvP
In the affidavit of probable cause
n
JAMES KNOX | TRIBUNE-REVIEW
n
filed to support the charges, police
e.
Pe
v
A
indicated Cheron Shelton had no
Woodlawn
lin
k
qualms about destroying the family.
Cemetery
n
a
r
In fact, he wanted to ambush the
F
Here is the scene of the
funerals.
WILKINSBURG
Wilkinsburg massacre showing
Im trying to treat them like the
the location of the suspects
Jews, he said to a witness, accordand four of the five adult
1304 Franklin
Franlkin Ave.
ing to police. Im trying to elimiScene
Scene
of deadly
of shooting
shooting
victims killed. The fifth victim
nate their whole blood lines.
died after being transported to
That wont happen, Audrey Thom8
hospital. Three others were
as said.
376
wounded, two critically,
Tina Shelton had five children,
WILKINSBURG
including Lamont "Murder"
and Audrey Thomas now has cus500 feet
500 feet
376
tody of two of them. Members of the
Powell, whom police believe
family been trying to support each
was the intended target.
MATT ROSENBERG | TRIBUNE-REVIEW
other since the massacre, she said.
We know that this is going to be
Tina Sheltons sister-in-law, Audrey ing handled.
a long process, she said. Its going
Jessica Shelton mother of Brit- to be a long road, but we have each
Thomas, called the news emotional.
Its not going to bring any of tany and Chanetta Powell and Jerry other, and thats all that matters.
the victims back, and its some- Shelton and aunt of Tina Shelton
thing that were always going to could not be reached for comment
Staff writers Madasyn Czebiniak and Carl Prine
have to deal with, said Thomas, but spoke previously about how
contributed. Megan Guza is a Tribune-Review
staff writer.
33. At least we know things are be- close her family was.

The crime scene

Authorities: Desire for

revenge spurred attack
CHARGED FROM A1

Jerry Michael
Shelton

The suspects

surveillance footage; ballistic tests tied to two missing

weapons; and DNA results
that have yet to come back
from the crime lab.
Thomas and Shelton have
long rap sheets for drug dealing, gun charges and other
crimes.
Shelton had been released
from jail the night before
the Wilkinsburg massacre.
Handed a cellphone by his
girlfriend, a flurry of calls
and text messages between
the men began, authorities
said.
About 10:30 p.m. March
9, Shelton placed what appeared to be a long, slender, ridged object draped in
clothing into a car and drove
away from Nolan Court, part
of the public housing complex where he had grown up.
Twelve minutes later, a
video camera recorded a car
matching its description arriving at Franklin Avenue in
Wilkinsburg. The first gunshots were heard at 10:54 p.m.
Video footage allegedly
shows Shelton and Thomas
returning to Nolan Court
at 12:23 a.m. March 10. The
men place a black bag into
the trunk of a different car,
then drive to the Heart Court
section of the same Hill Top
public housing complex, according to the criminal complaint.
Two hours later, Penn Hills
police responding to a suspicious persons in a yard
report found Shelton talking on his cellphone by a vacant house on Hebron Drive.
There were no outstanding
warrants or reasons to hold

Whos who

These four men grew up together in Pittsburgh Housing Authoritys Homewood North public housing complex, nicknamed Mohler projects after a
main street into and section of the complex. Court records show the four
partnered together in various crimes. The Wilkinsburg massacre appears to
be connected to a falling out within the group.

Robert James
Cheron Lamont
him, so they let
Milhouse Thomas
C-Wiz
Shelton
him go. Shelton
Thomas, 27, the other
One
of
two
men
returned to Noalleged gunman, is a
charged as gunmen
lan Court at 2:57
suspected member of
in the Wilkinsburg
a.m., authorities
the 581 HillTop Crips
massacre, the
with convictions for
say.
29-year-olds rap
resisting arrest, reckless
On March
sheet includes
endangerment and providing false
12, Allegheny convictions on drug and weapons
identification to police. He is set to
County Police charges. A suspected member of the
stand trial on unrelated assault, drug
581
HillTop
Crips,
hes
been
tied
to
the
served search
and intoxicated driving charges.
2015 theft of a gun collection in
warrants on the Fayette County and faces unrelated
Nolan Court drug, stolen property and domestic
apartment and assault charges.
Sheltons home
in Lincoln-LemCalvin Calio Doswell
Lamont Darnell
ington-Belmar,
Murder Powell, 24
A low-level crack dealer
retrieving a
in the same Homewood
Shot four times during
trove of ammuNorth public housing
the March 9 massacre,
nition magacomplex as the other
Powell was critically
zines bearing
men, Doswell, 30, was
wounded but survived.
gunned down on Oct.
He lost five relatives
the same rounds
15, 2013. His homicide
among the six killed.
that could have
remains unsolved.
been fired from Detectives consider him a person of
in the 2013 murder of Calvin
an AK-47, whats interest
Doswell and believe the Wilkinsburg
called a chop slayings might have been a reprisal for
or a chopper Doswells death.
on the street.
Sheltons convictions prevent him from dispose of the gun, the com- off the Wilkinsburg killings,
telling a jailhouse witness
possessing firearms, and a plaint said.
Zappala said ballistic tests that he was cool with it,
partial thumb print on a Colt
rifle that could not have been connected the weapon Shel- but later he said that it was
used in the massacre seemed ton allegedly used in Wilkins- crushing me every day, auto tie him to an unsolved burg to the 2011 New Years thorities say.
Sheltons defense attorney,
theft of a gun collection near Eve killing of 23-year-old
Uniontown, so a warrant was Donald Russell in Arlington. Randall H. McKinney, said
Dana Javon Johnson was he had not read the entire
issued for his arrest.
The Allegheny County found guilty of first-degree criminal complaint against
Sheriffs Departments Fu- homicide in that case, but his client, but I will say that
gitive Task Force caught the gun was never recovered. our position as to Cheron
On a different cell block, Sheltons lack of involveShelton on March 25. Allegheny County Police detectives meanwhile, Thomas was be- ment in these alleged crimes
coming increasingly nervous does not change because forcaught Thomas on April 5.
Once jailed, Shelton alleg- about having urinated in the mal charges have been filed.
Defense attorney Casey
edly wrote to a relative ask- corner of the garage near
ing him to get rid of the rifle, the scene of the shootings, White said Thomas mainbut the letter was intercepted which would have left DNA tains his innocence in the
under warrant. Shelton later material police potentially face of a very circumstanused hand signals during the could recover, according to tial case.
Carl Prine is a Tribune-Review
relatives videotaped visit to the criminal complaint.
investigative reporter.
the jail to explain the need to
Thomas initially shrugged

Britain on verge of becoming 1st to leave 28-member EU

BREXIT FROM A1

Britain appeared to be trending

toward a decision to leave
although they cautioned that
more data was needed from
other parts of the country.
In television interviews,
remain supporters looked
stricken as they took in the
results.
The pounds sudden fall
occurred just hours after it
had surged to a 2016 high on
news that an opinion poll
conducted Thursday by the
research firm YouGov showed
remain with a four-point
lead.
The results of that survey

coincided with comments by

anti-EU firebrand Nigel Farage, who told Sky News that it
looks like remain will edge
it, suggesting he was ready
for a loss.
Other leave leaders,
however, refused to concede
defeat. And with unexpectedly
impressive showings for the
leave campaign in the struggling northern English cities
of Newcastle and Sunderland,
it soon became clear that any
hope of an easy victory for
remain had evaporated.
Traditional strongholds of
the Labour Party which
had backed the in side

looked particularly hard-hit

by a pro-Brexit wave.
A final result was expected
about breakfast time in London.
Among five polls released on
the eve of the vote, two showed
a lead for in, two gave the
edge to out and one forecast
a tie. The final average of all
polls on the day before the vote
was 50-50, reflecting the tooclose-to-call drama on one of
the biggest questions to face
Britain in decades.
Britains allies, as well as
economists and investors
worldwide, looked on with
growing apprehension as Brit-

ain flirted with a choice that

experts warned could lead to
global market shocks and a rip
in the Western alliance.
But millions of Britons
demanded that their country
declare independence from
what many here regard as an
oppressive Brussels bureaucracy that enables mass migration into the country.
The outcome could be a
make-or-break moment for
Prime Minister David Cameron, who campaigned vigorously for Britain to stay in the
EU and cast the referendum as
a choice between an insular,
intolerant little England and

an outward-looking, pluralistic
Great Britain.
It is highly unlikely, however,
that he achieved the goal he
had when he called the referendum in 2013: to unite the
country and especially his
Conservative Party behind
a common stance on an issue
that has divided public opinion
here for decades.
Instead of resolving division,
Cameron has been left with the
raw wounds of a campaign that
exposed more clearly than ever
the fault lines in British society.
Its not going to be the settled
will of the British people, said
Steven Fielding, a professor of

political history at the University of Nottingham. And for

Cameron, that will create an
instability and a threat.
If the vote goes against Cameron, he is widely expected to
step down or be forced out.
Even if it goes his way, he will
face hard choices over whether
to purge the dissenters or welcome them back into his government. If he is not able to
bring his party back together,
he could face a serious challenge to his hold on the keys
at 10 Downing Street, with
aggrieved backbench Tories
talking of a plot to oust him.