Heyl: Shooting leaves Wilkinsburg restaurateur with broken heart but strong spirit

The shock slowly settled into an understandably subdued atmosphere at Nancy's East End Diner in Wilkinsburg.

“What I've seen this morning is people coming in to share their sadness and concern,” said co-owner Markie Maraugha, 23. “We don't even know anyone involved, and we've all been on the verge of tears.”

That was about nine hours after six people, including an unborn child, were murdered Wednesday night at a backyard cookout on Franklin Avenue, about a half-dozen blocks from the diner. Three other people were injured, two of them critically.

Perhaps the slaughter's most jarring aspect is the methodical manner in which it was carried out. A shooter in an alley behind the backyard began firing, sending people toward the presumed safety of the house. A second gunman waiting on the side of the house, less than 10 feet from the back porch, turned the fleeing partygoers into victims.

Maraugha and diner co-owner Greg Stocke dwell far below the surface of the headlines once again thrusting Wilkinsburg into the spotlight for the wrong reasons.

The pair rolled the dice in November 2014 and purchased Nancy's Restaurant, a South Avenue staple for more than 30 years until owner Nancy Bielecki became ill and closed it. Bielecki died in January 2015 at 82; Maraugha and Stocke rebranded and reopened the restaurant a month later.

“We had no idea how we would be received, but business has been wonderful,” she said. “We've turned into a gathering place, a harmonious space. Most days, you'll see cops in here next to community members.”

Maraugha, who moved to Wilkinsburg from East Liberty after buying the diner, said she sees a lot of good things happening in the oft-maligned borough. On that she's correct.

The Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation had redeveloped apartments and houses in Wilkinsburg and is in the midst of a $10.5 million restoration and development program. A portion of Wood Street is being renovated into first-floor retail spaces with second-floor apartments. Recent aesthetic improvements to Penn Avenue included new sidewalks, streetlights and trees.

But the borough has Allegheny County's highest property taxes and a troubled school district that is about to pay Pittsburgh Public Schools to educate its high-schoolers. Nearly 22 percent of its residents live below the poverty line.

Then there's the hard-to-shake stigma of violence. Ask Western Pennsylvanians what comes to mind when they think of Wilkinsburg, and many likely would recall Ronald Taylor, a deranged man who killed three people during a lunchtime shooting spree in the borough in 2000.

The stigma from the massacre Wednesday night will linger for a long time. But Maraugha insisted it won't make her consider abandoning her adopted community.

“Sometimes we take 30 steps forward and 60 steps back,” she said. “But I don't see this as some broken-down little town. It's so much more than that.”

Eric Heyl is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at 412-320-7857 or eheyl@tribweb.com.