AD/ND in Pittsburg man charged w/criminal homocide (?)

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http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/regional/fayette/s_654620.html

By Liz Zemba
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Tuesday, November 24, 2009

A Fayette County man, whose handgun allegedly discharged as he was attempting to holster it, has been charged with criminal homicide after the bullet struck and killed another man, police said.


Jonathan A. Reyes, 22, of 18 Tuskegee Terrace, Uniontown, is charged by city police in connection with the shooting death Saturday of Blaine Salutric, 20.

Salutric was shot in the abdomen at 6:30 p.m. Saturday at the Craig School Apartments, 54 Craig St., according to a police affidavit filed by Detective Donald Gmitter. Salutric was flown to UPMC Presbyterian in Pittsburgh by medical helicopter. He was pronounced dead at the hospital.

Police said Salutric, Reyes and another man, Stephen Richardson, were at the apartment eating pizza when the shooting occurred. Salutric was walking out of the kitchen with a slice of pizza when Reyes' .380-semiautomatic handgun discharged as he was attempting to secure it in a holster, according to the affidavit.

Salutric, of Uniontown, sustained a gunshot wound in his lower right abdomen.

The Fayette County Coroner's Office had no additional information.

Gmitter said Reyes had a permit to carry a weapon. Reyes does not have a criminal record.

Reyes was arraigned Sunday and placed in the Fayette County Prison without bond. He faces a preliminary hearing at 10 a.m. Jan. 26.

W/o Bond? 'Sounds like an AD/ND... so what's the 'criminal homocide' about? The anti's are already on this one. Anybody got more info?

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And that'd be why it NEVER leaves the holster unless necessary.

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Main reason I use a dedicated gunbelt.

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Sonora Rebel wrote:

W/o Bond? 'Sounds like an AD/ND... so what's the 'criminal homocide' about? The anti's are already on this one. Anybody got more info?

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The charge matches the incident that was described. Just because it may have been an accident doesn't mean it wasn't a crime; hence criminal homicide.



See http://government.westlaw.com/linkedslice/default.asp?SP=pac-1000
18 Pa.C.S.A. § 2501

(a) Offense defined.--A person is guilty of criminal homicide if he intentionally, knowingly, recklessly or negligently causes the death of another human being.

(b) Classification.--Criminal homicide shall be classified as murder, voluntary manslaughter, or involuntary manslaughter.


If it was in fact an accident, he'd probably be found guilty of involuntary manslaughter:

18 Pa.C.S.A. § 2504

(a) General rule.--A person is guilty of involuntary manslaughter when as a direct result of the doing of an unlawful act in a reckless or grossly negligent manner, or the doing of a lawful act in a reckless or grossly negligent manner, he causes the death of another person.

(b) Grading.--Involuntary manslaughter is a misdemeanor of the first degree. Where the victim is under 12 years of age and is in the care, custody or control of the person who caused the death, involuntary manslaughter is a felony of the second degree.


Edited to add more detail: misdemeanor of the first degree is defined as:
From 18 Pa.C.S.A. § 106
(6) A crime is a misdemeanor of the first degree if it is so designated in this title or if a person convicted thereof may be sentenced to a term of imprisonment, the maximum of which is not more than five years.

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This should be a reminder to all of us that we need to be conscious of where we are pointing our firearms AT ALL TIMES.

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I found this forum on while I was making a memorial for Blaine, the boy who was killed in this "accident", (and yes, I use the term 'accident' loosely).

Blaine was my niece's boyfriend - he was the first guy she had ever lived with, and although I didn't agree with it because she was only 17, I'm not her parents so I have no say in it. Well, technically he was her ex-boyfriend - they ended up kicking him out and they had broken up. I guess he was staying whereever he could pull up a couch in the past couple of weeks since then.

I didn't know him very well, but from what I did know, he had a rough go of things already at such a young age. I don't think it was neccessarily his fault. He lived in his grandmother's basement but was kicked out of there and ended up at my niece's house. I don't know the situation before his grandmother's, but I do know he had a mother and step-dad. I have no idea what happenedas to whyhe wasn't living with them, but I don't think they all were getting along very well.

Anyway, I personally have heard rumors. This is a very small area, and EVERYONE knows EVERYONE around here. From what I have heard (and I definitely don't want quoted on this, because who knows how true it actually is), this was a drug deal gone horribly wrong. The story very well could've happened as told in the news, but I highly doubt it.

That's pretty much all I know about what's happened with this. I'm not here to bash anyone on the beliefs about their rights to carry, so please don't think that's why I posted. I'm pretty much just elaborating on the story for anyone here who wanted more info.

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Edit: I came across this while gathering news articles. A quote from the owner of the property (from WPXI Channel 11 Pittsburgh website):

“They just came over to play music in this one boy’s apartment and one guy was playing with a gun or whatever he was doing with it,” said Gary Raffle, the owner of the property. “I guess the gun went off, which I think it shouldn’t have been loaded in the first place. He had a permit for it, I guess, the one that had the gun.”

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He was "playing" with a loaded gun. I've lived in Fayette County, PA my entire life, but unfortunately there aren't too many intelligent or responsiblepeople around here. Or much of anything else.

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jevans wrote:

I found this forum on while I was making a memorial for Blaine, the boy who was killed in this "accident", (and yes, I use the term 'accident' loosely).

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Reckless endangerment and negligence. There was no accident in this incident. There were no extra forces which could've interferred like driving. Even with most drivers, it's driver negligence, not a driver accident.

I hope the guy is locked up, obviously not trained, obviously a moron who doesn't break himself out of 'safe zones' to where these situations would not happen.

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My suspicions about this being an "accident" involve the fact that the victem was standing and shot in the abdomen. If the shooter was trying to place the gun in a belt holster the gun shoot have discharged downward. Unless Reyes was attempting to holster in a shoulder rig.

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Task Force 16 wrote:

My suspicions about this being an "accident" involve the fact that the victem was standing and shot in the abdomen. If the shooter was trying to place the gun in a belt holster the gun shoot have discharged downward. Unless Reyes was attempting to holster in a shoulder rig.

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There are also horizontal OWB holsters.

On a side note, small handguns such as the .380 allegedly [mis]-used, especially those with a long trigger pull, can hit well below their intended target in the hands of a novice.