4 Pittsburgh teens used BB gun to shoot unconscious man who later died, police say

Pittsburgh police on Friday charged four city teens with shooting an unconscious man with a BB gun multiple times while he lay in a Downtown alley in late November. The man later died from an unknown cause.

Karmelo Harshey, 18; Isaiah Johnson, 16; Desmond Robinson, 15; and Lee Wilson, 16, each were charged Friday with aggravated assault, criminal attempt, recklessly endangering another person and one weapons charge each, according to court filings.

Robinson, who is in the Allegheny County Jail, is represented by the Allegheny County Public Defender and has a Feb. 22 hearing, the court docket said. The rest were awaiting a hearing when their court papers were filed.

Amie Downs, whose Allegheny County communications role covers the public defender’s office, said there would be no comment from them on the case.

On Nov. 29 at 1:26 a.m., Pittsburgh police officers responded to Coffey Way, a Downtown alley between Sixth Avenue and Strawberry Way, and found a man, later identified as Christopher Gaylor, laying on the sidewalk unconscious, according to a criminal complaint obtained by the Tribune-Review.

Pittsburgh police Officer Dajiah Allen noted fresh blood coming out of Gaylor’s mouth, which had rolled down his face into his ear, the criminal complaint said.

Medics found a pulse and took Gaylor to UPMC Presbyterian in Oakland in critical condition. He died Dec. 1.

Doctors said Gaylor, who police suspected might have overdosed on an unknown substance, had hypothermia, according to the complaint. Further tests showed he possibly had been shot by a BB gun or birdshot round. Gaylor had injuries to his right jaw, right lip and right eyebrow, and the medical examiner found four BB-gun rounds in his face and neck area during autopsy.

On Dec. 1, the day Gaylor died, Pittsburgh police detectives found a video from the Duquesne Club, shot Nov. 28 at 6:26 p.m.. The video showed five men shooting a man on Coffey Way numerous times with BB guns for approximately five minutes, police said.

On Dec. 2, police found a cartridge for the guns on Coffey Way.

The Duquesne Club video shows Harshey, Johnson, Robinson and Wilson shooting Gaylor, who is unconscious throughout the entire assault, numerous times, according to the criminal complaint.

The young men passed a BB gun to each other and changed the cartridges several times while shooting Gaylor, police said in the complaint.