Attempted homicide charge dismissed against Shalaya Briston in Terrelle Pryor stabbing

The most serious charge against the woman accused of stabbing Terrelle Pryor was dismissed during a preliminary hearing Thursday.

District Judge Anthony Ceoffe dismissed a charge of attempted homicide that Pittsburgh police filed against Shalaya Briston, 24.

Briston was dating Pryor, 30, an NFL football star who is a Jeannette native.

They shared an apartment in Pittsburgh’s North Side until Nov. 30, when they fought after a night out, police said.

Pryor ended up in the hospital with two stab wounds.

Although he dismissed the more serious charge, Ceoffe sent to Allegheny County Common Pleas Court an aggravated assault charge filed against Briston. He also held for court a simple assault charge filed against Pryor.

Exactly what happened that night at their Heinz Lofts apartment became muddied during the hearing. One of two women who was with the couple that night gave vague testimony in court that contradicted what she told police earlier.

The woman, Deja Irvin, isn’t charged in the case. Irvin said that on Nov. 29, she went to dinner with Pryor, Briston and another woman who was friends with them.

The women continued the evening at a club, a bar and an after-hours bar while Pryor went back to the apartment. When they arrived back at the apartment, Pryor met them in the hallway, started arguing with and “began to be aggressive,” Irvin testified.

“He was angry,” Irvin said.

Pryor put his hands on Briston, hit her and “slammed her to the ground,” she said.

Pryor also “grabbed me and slammed me,” Irvin said.

Pryor and Briston stood close to each other during the hearing, Pryor wearing a gray suit and Briston in white blouse and black suit.Briston’s monitoring bracelet was visible on her left ankle.

Pryor swayed on his feet as the witness described what happened, spurring a rebuke from Ceoffe.

But ultimately the Irvin couldn’t testify that she saw Briston stab Pryor twice, as prosecutors contend.

Instead, what she described was three fearful women defending themselves against a “very large man,” as Briston’s attorney, Lee Rothman, described Pryor.

Pryor is listed at 6 feet, 4 inches tall and 240 pounds. He was a standout sports star at Jeannette High School. He went on to play quarterback at Ohio State and played for several NFL teams.

He is a free agent, and the National Football League has sent officials to court proceedings. The league hasn’t offered public comment.

Deputy District Attorney Michael Sullivan said prosecutors were using “process of elimination” to prove Briston stabbed Pryor, but the other women didn’t see Briston with the knife.

“Unless Mr. Pryor has a third arm, he’s not able to stab himself,” Sullivan said.

The extent of the injuries to Pryor merit the attempted homicide charge, Sullivan said. Pryor’s attorney, Steve Colafella, said the injuries nearly killed him.

Rothman successfully argued that prosecutors didn’t prove there was intent to kill Pryor, as the attempted homicide charge required, because Briston drove Pryor to the hospital.

They stayed at the hospital and were then interviewed by police. In that interview, they described a “tussle” outside and inside the apartment during which Pryor ended up with two stab wounds.

The “tussle” described by police in the criminal complaint became something where Pryor is alleged to have hit Briston, pulled her hair and slammed her to the ground in a way that made the women afraid, Irvin testified.

But none of them complained of injuries or sought medical treatment when they talked to police.

Colafella called the dispute a scrum that ended with Pryor wounded.

“My client was stabbed not just once, but twice,” Colafella said.

The district judge also found there was enough evidence for the assault charge filed against Pryor to proceed.

Ceoffe said he lamented the position Sullivan, the prosecutor, is in. To make a criminal case against either of them, he has to weaken the case against the other person, Ceoffe said.

“I don’t envy you, you’re arguing against yourself,” Ceoffe said to Sullivan.

“I don’t see how you can prevail up the street,” the magistrate said, referring to the Allegheny County Courthouse, where the cases will next be heard.

The cases will likely require a fact-finder to sort them out, Sullivan said.

Briston has been living with her parents in Munhall since being let out of jail on bond.

In January, Heinz Lofts settled an eviction claim against the couple. Colafella wouldn’t say where Pryor resides.

Editor’s note: This story has been updated to include the name of the woman who testified during the preliminary hearing. A previous version of this story did not include Deja Irvin’s name.