3 suspects accused in home invasion
Butler police issued arrest warrants for three suspects in an alleged armed home invasion last month in the city's Island neighborhood.
Soon after the incident, one of the suspects, Lamont A. “Butt Butt” Franklin, 18, of Butler, was found with a gunshot wound. Police said they still don't know how he ended up being shot.
Along with Franklin, also being sought is his uncle, Maurice A. “Little Philly” Franklin, 27, of Freeport; and Shawndell J. Zapata, 17, of Butler.
All three suspects are charged with burglary, robbery, conspiracy and terroristic threats. Additionally, the younger Franklin is charged with hindering apprehension and corruption of minors, and the elder Franklin is charged with corruption of minors and four counts of reckless endangerment.
Police said their investigation has been hampered, in part, by a lack of cooperation from some of the victims and reluctant witnesses.
Robbery likely motive
Robbery was the suspected motive in the Feb. 16 home invasion at 307 Negley Ave. But police do not know if the defendants stole anything.
A woman and her 14-year-old son live at the house and were home when the defendants kicked in the back door of the house shortly after 6 a.m. Also at the home were the woman's adult daughter and her daughter's ex-boyfriend.
Detectives believe the daughter's ex-boyfriend was the target of the home invasion. Maurice Franklin was armed with a pistol, police said, and that he and alleged accomplices were looking for the target. Charging documents reveal the trio believed the man they were looking for had “a large amount of money.”
Police would not identify the target other than saying he was a man in his 20s with whom they already were familiar. He also has a drug-related criminal record.
The woman at the two-story house and her son were sleeping in the living room. She was awakened by the noise of the break-in and the voice of one of the intruders shouting, “Police!”
Startled, the woman got up and tried to wake her son, who was on the couch. She was stopped by one of the suspects, who threw her onto the couch and held her down. Police suspect Zapata held down the woman's son.
Maurice Franklin, allegedly with the handgun, went upstairs, apparently looking for the target. Police believe he confronted the woman's daughter. In another room was her former boyfriend.
Detectives, however, acknowledged none of the people in the house told them the target was there. That clue, they said, was provided by someone else during the investigation.Victims not forthcomingThe victims of the suspected home invasion eventually allegedly identified the defendants as the trio that broke into the home. But police also admitted the victims have not been fully forthcoming with investigators.Police were not immediately called about the incident. Their first call came around 6:30 a.m. that morning, when they learned Lamont Franklin had been shot.The 911 caller was Lamont Franklin's sister. She told authorities her brother showed up with a gunshot wound at their home on the 500 block of Brown Avenue, a half-mile from the Negley Avenue crime scene.Lamont Franklin's injury was described as a “through-and-through” gunshot to the right side around the lower abdomen.He was taken to Butler Memorial Hospital before police could talk to him, and later flown by medical helicopter to UPMC Presbyterian hospital in Pittsburgh.Police believe he was shot during or after the break-in. They found two casings outside the Negley Avenue home. They also found evidence of one slug hitting the front wooden porch steps at a house across from the Negley Avenue home.Additionally, a car across the street from the Negley Avenue house also appeared to have been struck by a bullet.Several neighbors reported hearing about six shots. One neighbor reported hearing 10 shots. No one in the neighborhood, however, bothered to call 911, police said.Investigators also could not find any neighbor who saw anything immediately before or after the shooting.Police believe the suspects made their getaway from Negley Avenue in a vehicle. They also suspect Lamont Franklin was taken away in the vehicle and dropped off with his gunshot injury before the others drove away.A detective went to UPMC and spoke to Lamont Franklin within a few hours of police getting the call that he had been shot.Caught in 'cross fire'His account to the detective was that he had been walking down the street and was caught up in “cross fire” between a pedestrian and motorist exchanging gunshots in the area of Chestnut and Race streets near Rotary Park.He also denied knowing anything about the home invasion.Investigators were unable to find any evidence to corroborate Lamont Franklin's account, and they subsequently determined it was fabricated.Detectives said Lamont later underwent surgery at UPMC before he was released two days or so later. They have not spoken to him since. Police also said they have not spoken to his uncle or to Zapata.Zapata's 20-year-old girlfriend, Sarah Fox of Ohio, however, did talk to investigators, according to charging documents. In a Feb. 21 interview, she allegedly admitted to being the defendants' getaway driver.“Their plan was to rob (the target) because they believed that he had a large sum of money in his possession,” documents said.Following the home invasion, Fox recounted, the suspects got into the car she was driving. She noticed Lamont Franklin had been shot.According to court documents, the woman told investigators she drove to Lamont Franklin's home, and she was paid $100 for her role in the crime.Fox has not been charged but police did not rule out that she could be. They said the case remains under investigation.
