Briefs: Man dies after SUV hits tractor-trailer
A Carnegie man died Thursday when his 1993 Chevrolet Blazer rear-ended a parked tractor-trailer along Interstate 79 in South Fayette.
Ronald West, 56, was traveling southbound on I-79 shortly before 7:30 a.m. when his vehicle veered off the road as he approached the rest stop near Bridgeville, state police said. West, who was driving about 60 mph, hit the rear of a 1998 Kenworth tractor-trailer, which was parked, police said. The truck driver, Howard Hylton, 41, of Ontario, Canada, was in the truck's sleeper berth when the accident occurred. He was not hurt.
West, who was not wearing a seat belt, was treated at the scene for head and chest injuries and flown by medical helicopter to UPMC Presbyterian in Oakland, where he died at about 10:30 a.m.
City
Homewood
Man gets life for teen's death
An Allegheny County judge on Thursday sentenced a Wilkinsburg man to life in prison for stabbing an East Hills teenager and then urinating on her corpse.
Common Pleas Judge Kathleen Durkin imposed the mandatory sentence on Justin Craig, 32, for the April 2001 slaying of Raquel Carter, 16, in a wooded area of Homewood. Durkin also sentenced Craig to one to two years in prison for abuse of a corpse.
Pittsburgh police arrested Craig last year after DNA tests linked him to a urine stain found on Carter's jeans. A jury deadlocked on his guilt in July, but another jury convicted him of first-degree murder in October.
Lincoln-Lemington
Funeral set for slain minister
Funeral arrangements have been made for an East Liberty minister who was shot to death Tuesday night in the city's Lincoln-Lemington section.
A memorial fund also has been set up to raise enough money to send the minister's body back to his home in Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Friends of Nzubamunu Mitete will be received from 4 to 8 p.m. Tuesday at White Memorial Chapel, 7204 Thomas Blvd., North Point Breeze. A viewing also will be from 4 to 8 p.m. Wednesday at Pentecostal Temple Church, 6300 East Liberty Blvd., East Liberty, where Nzubamunu was an associate minister at the church. The funeral will be at 11 a.m. Thursday at the church, said the Rev. Loran Mann, the church's pastor. Donations to return Mitete's body to Africa can be made at any PNC Bank branch.
Police name robbery suspects
Detectives from Pittsburgh's robbery squad are searching for two suspects wanted in connection with two separate incidents.
Police are searching for Andrew Broman, 23, in connection with the Dec. 7 armed robbery of the Elliot Town Market along the 900 block of Chartiers Avenue in Sheraden. Broman is white; about 6 feet, 1 inch tall; and weighs between 160 and 170 pounds.
Police also are looking for Donald Austin, 26, also known as Donald Wood, in connection with a violent home invasion Nov. 13 in the 1500 block of Antrim Street, North Side. Austin is black; 6 feet, 2 inches tall; and weighs about 170 pounds. He has a medium complexion, short hair and facial hair.
Anyone with information about the suspects should call police at 412-323-7200 or 412-323-7151.
Garfield
Stabbing victim dies months after attack
A man who was stabbed in the neck as he walked along a Garfield street with a friend in late May died Thursday.
Pittsburgh homicide detectives said Kenneth Waller, 50, of East Liberty was in critical condition when he was taken to the hospital at around 2 a.m. on May 27. In the seven months since the attack, Waller was undergoing rehabilitation for his injuries, but he died yesterday at the Kane Regional Center in Glen-Hazel of complications from the stabbing, police said.
Officers from the city's Zone 5 station and city homicide detectives began investigating the incident after Waller was stabbed, but no arrests have been made.
Lincoln-Lemington
Man who was slain was going to hospital
The Point Breeze man shot dead Wednesday night while leaving a Lincoln-Lemington bar was on his way to meet his girlfriend at the hospital, where she was about to give birth, police said Thursday.
John Boddy, 27, was shot as he left Fred's Pub along the 7300 block of Lemington Avenue shortly before 10 p.m. Boddy was in the bar with a friend and received a telephone call from his girlfriend, who told him she was on the way to the hospital to deliver their child, police said.
Boddy encountered two men armed with a gun and was shot multiple times. The suspects then fled on foot. He was pronounced dead at the scene by city paramedics. Police did not release any details about the suspects or possible motives in the shooting.
Needy will have a place to celebrate Christmas
Needy families and senior citizens will have a place to celebrate Christmas Day through the Salvation Army and its partners.
Five hotels through the Pittsburgh Hotel Association, Verizon Wireless, more than 300 volunteers and the Salvation Army are providing nearly 2,000 holiday meals to those who would otherwise not have the opportunity to celebrate Christmas.
From 11 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Sunday, the Pittsburgh Hilton and Towers, Westin Convention Center and Omni William Penn, all Downtown; the Marriott City Centre, Uptown; and the Sheraton Station Square, South Side, will serve free holiday meals. Verizon Wireless is providing wireless phones at all sites so diners can make free calls to relatives.
Mon Valley
McKeesport
Man hospitalized following shooting
A man was flown to a Pittsburgh hospital after being shot and wounded Thursday in McKeesport, emergency personnel said.
The shooting occurred around 7 p.m. in the 1600 block of Jenny Lind Avenue, emergency dispatchers said. Allegheny County homicide detectives were called to assist McKeesport police with the investigation. No other information was available.
South
Mt. Oliver
Water break forces people from homes
Three families were forced from their homes Thursday evening because of a water line break in their apartment building, an official for the American Red Cross said.
The Red Cross provided food, clothing and temporary shelter for the five adults and child whose apartments are located on Brownsville Road, the official said.
West
Moon
Degree offered in health services administration
Starting in the spring of 2006, Robert Morris University plans to offer a new bachelor of science degree in health services administration.
The university's School of Nursing and Allied Health and its School of Adult and Continuing Education will oversee the program. The courses, some of which are online, are designed to teach experienced health professionals to become health care leaders.
The program combines fundamental courses such as an introduction to the nation's health care system, consumer health and health policy, with technical classes, such as financial administration, law and ethics and information systems.
Region
Somerset County
Two charged with hitting girl in stomach
An orthopedic surgeon and her husband were charged with hitting his 10-year-old daughter in the stomach, state police said.
The girl had severe bruises that required medical treatment, state police said. Authorities accuse Dr. Anne Sullivan-Grassi, 40, of Somerset Township, of striking the girl once during a visitation in October.
Her husband, Michael John Grassi, 39, is accused of hitting the girl in the abdomen several times as they were driving back from Ohio, according to court documents. State police said the girl sustained "extensive bruising" and was treated by an Ohio physician.
Grassi faces charges of aggravated assault, simple assault, child endangerment and reckless endangerment. Sullivan-Grassi was charged with simple assault. Both declined comment. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Feb. 2.
Beaver County
Burned teen goes home for Christmas
An Ambridge teen who was severely burned in October after being splashed with burning gasoline has retuned home in time for Christmas.
Shane Scott, 15, was released from the Shriners Hospital for Children in Cincinnati earlier this week. His mother, Michelle Scott, said his condition continues to improve, but Shane suffered nerve damage, uses a wheel chair and must undergo physical therapy every day. She said the family hopes that Shane can return to school after the winter break.
Keith Neal Walsh, the Mars man accused of throwing the gasoline on a campfire outside the Challenger Raceway in Indiana County, is awaiting trial on two charges of aggravated assault.
Cambria County
Rapper's t-shirt banned; snowmen OK
Frosty's still cool. But school officials in a Cambria County district say another snowman isn't so hot.
Greater Johnstown School District Superintendent Barbara Parkins said she was forced to clarify a ban on one particular type of snowman garb -- a menacing snowman design first made popular by rapper Young Jeezy -- after some students and parents thought the ban extended to all snowmen and other holiday-themed clothing.
The banned design depicts a snowman with an angry look on his face that represents a drug dealer. "Snow" is a slang term for cocaine. That design is not allowed because the district does not permit clothing that promotes drugs, Parkins said.
"We aren't letting our students wear the Young Jeezy T-shirt," Parkins said. "Snowmen aren't banned from our schools."
Erie County
Judge: Mayor's trial won't be in county
Mayor Rick Filippi's trial on public corruption charges will not be conducted in Erie County, a judge ruled this week.
Erie County Judge Ernest J. DiSantis Jr. granted a defense motion to move the trial elsewhere. He said the publicity generated by the case would taint a jury from the county. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court now will decide the new venue, where DiSantis will hear the case with jurors from that area.
Filippi; his law partner, Rolf Patberg; and former campaign manager, Eric Purchase, are accused of using Filippi's position to gather inside information before buying real estate near a proposed $80 million gambling enterprise.
Clearfield County
Guards resign after murderer escapes
Two guards at the State Correctional Institution at Houtzdale in Clearfield County have resigned after the escape of a convicted murderer during a hospital visit, prison officials said.
The unidentified guards had been suspended since Christopher Gerlach, 29, slipped out of Altoona Hospital, where he had a medical appointment, on Nov. 16. Gerlach, unshackled while using a hospital bathroom, slipped out a second door guards didn't know existed, modified his prison jumpsuit to resemble a hospital orderly's and walked out the main entrance.
Gerlach, serving a life sentence for a 1995 Montgomery County murder, is accused of tying up two women and stealing a vehicle in the three hours he was free.
