Woman testifies about drive-by shooting
A Butler woman, pregnant with twins, testified Monday that she saw the father of her unborn children shoot a gun at her six times earlier this month.
“I heard bullets flying past my head,” said Kirisa Taimuty, who tearfully remembered fearing for her life and the life of her 2-year-old son who was with her in a stroller.
Taimuty, 25, was the first of three witnesses called by the prosecution at a preliminary hearing for Mackenzie P. Peters, 22, and Raheem J. Robinson, 26, both of Butler, who are accused of being involved in an April 5 shooting on North Sixth Avenue in the city.
District Judge William Fullerton ordered the attempted homicide, aggravated assault, criminal conspiracy and other charges against Peters and Robinson held for court at the end of a preliminary hearing.
City police believe Robinson and Peters, in a white Chrysler Sebring driven by Peters, pulled up on a group of three adults and one child around 10:30 p.m. on Sixth Avenue. Robinson is accused of firing a handgun multiple times and another person, who has not yet been publicly identified by police, returned fire.
Days after the incident, Pittsburgh police found and impounded Peters' car. City police seized evidence from the vehicle including pieces of plastic bumper that matched pieces collected from the crime scene.
Taimuty, in her testimony, said she went to Peters' house on Sixth Avenue that night after talking on the phone and exchanging texts with Peters.
While at the house she got into an argument with Robinson. She testified that she was trying to get him to sign over his parental rights to her unborn twins.
When walking out of the house, she told police that she heard Robinson say “you and Kenzie going to get handled tonight.”
Though she did not identify him in her initial interview with police, she acknowledged Monday that she called Jedediah Owens-Vickers, 25, of Butler who met her on Sixth Street.
“I called Jedediah Owens-Vickers and said 'walk me home. Raheem is acting crazy,'” she said.
She said she did not know if Owens-Vickers had a gun on him. When answering questions about the shooting, she said she did not know what Owens-Vickers was doing while the shots were being fired.
In her account of the shooting, she said she recognized Peters in the driver's seat of the car and alleged that she was laughing.
Attorney Joe Kecskemethy, defending Peters, questioned Taimuty about her statement that Robinson was 3 to 4 feet away when he fired. He speculated that she was actually 12 or more feet away.
Sixth Avenue resident Joshua Meehan also testified, giving his account of the incident as seen from the second-story window of his house.
Meehan said he saw three adults with a stroller walking down the street and talking when a white car approached them. He said a person in the car and a man with dreadlocks on the street exchanged fire.Meehan said he couldn't see faces, but believed the second shooter was a man walking with the two women and a stroller.“The guy was right there. They were walking together,” he said.Lt. John Johnson, a detective with the city police, testified that a .45-caliber handgun was recovered from Peters' residence on Sixth Avenue. Police are waiting for forensic tests to confirm it was the one used in the shooting. Both .45-caliber and 9 mm casings were recovered from the scene, he said.Charles Nedz of the public defender's office asked for Fullerton to dismiss the attempted homicide and aggravated assault charges against Robinson because there is no evidence that he intended to kill or injure anyone.Kecskemethy made a similar request and said that there is no evidence that Peters agreed to commit a crime and is not guilty of conspiracy. Fullerton held all charges for court.Assistant District Attorney Terri Schultz said that firing a gun, regardless of its aim, near a 2-year-old should qualify as aggravated assault.Peters, according to testimony, initiated the meeting between Taimuty and circled the block multiple times in her car before the shooting, Schultz said.“She didn't distance herself from the situation,” she said.Robinson and Peters remain behind bars in Butler County Prison.Butler police Monday declined to say if Owens-Vickers has been questioned in the shooting or if he is a suspect. He was arrested Thursday and placed in Butler County Prison on unrelated warrants.
