17-year-old charged in shooting death of Latrobe teen

A Latrobe teenager remained in custody Wednesday on adult criminal charges after investigators said he shot and killed a 15-year-old friend with a stolen firearm inside a city apartment.

Around 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, authorities said Andrew Braddy, 17, pointed a gun at Devin Capasso and pulled the trigger. Capasso died at the Main Street apartment where Braddy lived with two adults from a gunshot wound to his upper torso, police said.

Police charged Braddy with hom­icide, carrying a firearm without a license, theft and receiving stolen property.

Night Court District Judge Joseph DeMarchis ordered him held without bond in the Regional Youth Services Center in Hempfield.

.lemonwhale-embed-container { position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%; height: 0; overflow: hidden; max-width:100%; }.lemonwhale-embed-container iframe { position: absolute; top: 0; left:0; width: 100%; height: 100%; }

Several people gathered in the fourth-floor apartment Tuesday where Braddy lived with an 18-year-old female and a 23-year-old male, police said. Braddy allegedly was in possession of a firearm that had been reported stolen to state police last week, police said.

Braddy admitted stealing the Glock 9mm handgun from a car in Derry Township on Friday, Latrobe police Detective John Sleasman wrote in the affidavit.

"They assembled inside this apartment, and there's statements that these guys are passing these guns around," said Westmoreland County Detective Ray Dupilka, who assisted Sleasman with the investigation.

"Braddy stated that he racked the slide of the pistol before pointing it at Capasso. Braddy stated that he did discharge one round that struck Capasso in the torso," Sleasman wrote.

After Capasso was shot, Braddy allegedly took the weapon and another gun in the apartment and disposed of them in an alley three blocks away. Police found two stolen 9mm pistols — a Glock and Smith & Wesson — at Alexandria Alley, near Chestnut Street, Latrobe police Chief James Bumar said. Police are tracing ownership of the guns, he said.

Braddy then returned to the scene, Dupilka said.

Bumar said police are conducting interviews with witnesses to determine the "exact circumstances" of the shooting.

"I can say that they knew one another and that we have no record of there being any prior animosity between them," Bumar said.

Andrea Pedder, a fifth-floor resident living in the apartment above the shooting, said the gunshot she heard "sounded like a big bang."

Pedder said she looked out her apartment door and saw someone walking up the stairs, carrying two guns.

Joe Hays, who was visiting Pedder on Tuesday evening, said he heard a loud bang and ran down to the apartment.

"Everybody was freaking out, and no one was helping the kid," Hays said.

He applied pressure to the wound on the left side of the victim's chest and a girl was holding up his head, he said, but they could not save him.

"He was turning blue," Hays said.

Elijah Straw, 21, of Latrobe was visiting his girlfriend on the same floor where the shooting occurred.

"We were just sitting around and heard a loud bang and thought a truck backfired," Straw said.

Straw said they went out in the hallway to check on the commotion.

"They were asking for towels, but you knew it was really bad. Devin was the sweetest, nicest guy ... just a teddy bear, and he's really going to be missed," Straw said.

Capasso had just started his freshman year at Greater Latrobe High School on Monday, said Georgia Teppert, assistant superintendent. Grief counselors are available at the school for students and faculty, she said.

"He was a pleasant, nice student who had a lot of friends," Teppert said in an email. "He will definitely be missed."

A cousin, Christopher Grycuk of Latrobe, described Capasso as "a great kid" who loved to play football and basketball.

Fellow freshman Sean Cliff, also 15, occasionally hung out with Devin in the same apartment where the shooting occurred. Cliff said Devin was his first friend when his family moved to Latrobe about four years ago.

"Devin was a funny kid and always cared about everyone. He was always making people laugh or smile when they didn't want to, and he had a lot of friends," Cliff said.

Cliff said he used to hang out with Devin in the apartment where the shooting occurred.

"You knew something bad was eventually going to happen. But I never thought one of my best friends was going to get shot," Cliff said.

Kepple Graft Funeral Home in Greensburg is handling the arrangements.

Renatta Signorini and Joe Napsha are Tribune-Review staff writers. Reach Napsha at jnapsha@tribweb.com. Reach Signorini at 724-837-5374, rsignorini@tribweb.com or via Twitter @byrenatta.