Investigation of Pitt student's murder aided by community cooperation, police say

Pittsburgh police officials on Wednesday praised members of the community who aided the investigation of University of Pittsburgh student Alina Sheykhet's murder.

“We would not have solved this case so quickly without all of the information and cooperation from the community,” said Cmdr. Joseph Vic.

He called the investigation a “total group effort” among city police, Pitt police, Duquesne University police and the Allegheny County District Attorney's Office.

Sheykhet, 20, was found dead in her Oakland apartment Sunday morning. Police arrested her ex-boyfriend, Matthew Darby, 21, in South Carolina early Wednesday.

Vic stressed that the detective work put into solving this crime is not unique to Sheykhet's case.

“We give the same attention and effort to all of our homicide cases,” he said. “We follow leads and we follow evidence. This case, because of the cooperation from the community, had an abundance of leads, which led to an abundance of evidence.”

He said Sheykhet's case shows the importance of community cooperation, and he urged anyone with any information regarding any homicide to call police.

Megan Guza is a Tribune-Review staff writer.