Mourners fill Wilkinsburg pews for victim of backyard massacre
A day after investigators hinted they may be getting closer to identifying possible suspects in the March 9 slayings of five adults and an unborn child in Wilkinsburg, the lifelong partner of one of the deceased said he forgives them.
“I want to hate the person or persons that destroyed our lives, but all I hear is you telling me that we have to forgive him,” Bruce Mullen Jr., partner of 22 years to Tina Shelton, 35, wrote in a letter read at her funeral Saturday.
Mullen, in state prison in Clearfield County for forgery, could not attend the service, but his letter was read to a packed Mulberry Community Church in Wilkinsburg.
“I know that you would not want us to be sad,” he wrote.
More than 100 family and friends packed the small church, filling the dozen first-floor pews and a small balcony, leaving only standing room for those who continued to stream in during the service.
The Rev. Lawrence Smith presided over the service — a triumph of life service, the family called it — and read from Psalm 18: “I will call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised: so shall I be saved from mine enemies.”
“If you can say those kinds of words at a time like this,” Smith said, “it will bring awesome comfort to our hearts.”
Shelton and her cousins, Jerry Shelton, 35, Brittany Powell, 27, and Chanetta Powell, 25, and family friend Shada Mahone, 26, were gunned down during a backyard barbecue at Brittany Powell's home. Chanetta Powell's unborn boy was also killed.
Police have made no arrests and have not released a possible motive, but investigators have said the massacre was a targeted ambush, likely by two gunmen who trapped the victims in the backyard in a hail of more than 40 bullets.
As many as 15 people were in the yard at the time, and investigators say the first gunman fired at the crowd to push them into the path of the second gunman, armed with an AK-47-style rifle.
“I have questioned, ‘Why you?' ” Mullen wrote. “The reason being is because God needed another angel in heaven.”
Mullen wrote that through life's ups and downs, he knew she always had his back.
“I am going to miss your smile, your laughter, your kindness, but most of all, I am going to miss the person that made me want better in my life,” Mullen wrote.
Mourners wept and sang, celebrating Tina Shelton's life, before crowding the street outside to release dozens of white doves into a gray sky. Two uniformed Wilkinsburg police officers remained on the corner throughout the service.
On Friday, Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen A. Zappala Jr. released the first bit of information about the investigation since he visited the scene on the morning after the shooting, calling the massacre the worst he had seen in 18 years in office.
Zappala said he is “cautiously optimistic” that the task force investigating the shooting has identified people believed to be suspects. County police Superintendent Charles Moffat called Zappala's statement “an accurate picture” of the investigation.
No arrests are imminent, though, police said.
Police and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives continue to offer a reward of up to $20,000 for information leading to an arrest.
LaMont Powell, 24, remains in critical condition at UPMC Mercy. He was shot in the neck, chest, lower back and hand and required surgery, said his mother, Jessica Shelton, who lost three of her six children, an unborn grandson and a niece in the shooting.
A second man, whose name has not been released, remains in critical condition. A woman not identified by police was treated and released.
A funeral was held Monday for Shada Mahone, the only non-relative killed in the shooting. A joint service for siblings Jerry Shelton, Brittany Powell and Chanetta Powell will be held Tuesday at The Lighthouse Cathedral in Pittsburgh's St. Clair neighborhood.
Megan Guza is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach her at 412-380-8519 or mguza@tribweb.com.
