Teen charged in California-Kirkbride homicide also accused in funeral service shooting

A Pittsburgh teenager who police say opened fire on a Brighton Heights funeral service in late October has been charged in connection with a homicide that took place more than two months earlier.

The Aug. 7 shooting in the city’s California-Kirkbride neighborhood left one man dead and three others injured.

Heze’kiah Nixon, 16, faces charges of criminal homicide, criminal conspiracy, three counts of aggravated assault and firearms violations. He has been held at Allegheny County Jail since being denied bail after his arrest in connection with the Brighton Heights shooting.

Casey White, an attorney for Nixon, said the teenager’s family “is still trying to wrap their heads around” the charges against Nixon.

“He is obviously afforded the presumption of innocence,” White told the Tribune-Review. “But these charges are being taken seriously.”

White said Nixon might be prosecuted in the juvenile justice system. If Nixon is prosecuted as an adult, White said he could face a maximum sentence of 30 to 60 years in prison.

A ShotSpotter alert said at least 55 shots were fired just before 10 p.m. Aug. 7 in the 1700 block of Brighton Place.

Stephone Drayton, 40, was shot in the chest and pronounced dead after being taken to Allegheny General Hospital, the Allegheny County medical examiner’s office said.

A second person suffered a broken femur bone after being shot in the right thigh, while a third was shot in the foot and a fourth was grazed in one of their arms, according to a criminal complaint. The shooting victims who survived were not identified.

Three other men — Andre Allen, Tylajae Allen and Andrew Johnson — previously were charged in connection with that shooting, police said.

More than two months after that shooting, Shawn Davis, 19, of McKees Rocks, and Nixon were arrested on charges including attempted homicide, aggravated assault and gun charges in connected with the Oct. 28 shooting in Brighton Heights. Police at that time said Davis and Nixon fired multiple shots outside the Destiny of Faith Church where people were attending a funeral service for John Hornezes Jr., 20, of the North Side.

Hornezes was among three people, including two innocent bystanders, who were shot and killed on Oct. 15 near what police have called an open-air drug market at Allegheny Commons.

Pittsburgh police said they found a gun in October matching the description of the one used in the Brighton Heights shooting. The gun, which had a bullet in the chamber, was reported stolen out of Shaler. The Glock 26 pistol also might have been used in the California-Kirkbride shooting, a criminal complaint said.

Footage obtained from businesses near the Brighton Heights church showed a Hyundai Elantra drive up Viruth Street minutes after the shooting. Surveillance video showed the driver wearing similar clothing to that of one of the shooters, police said.

Police said Davis and Nixon later were stopped by detectives on the McKees Rocks Bridge, where Nixon got out of the Hyundai Elantra and ran toward McKees Rocks. He was seen throwing a gun with an extended magazine into the river, the complaint said.

A background check showed that Nixon was “adjudicated delinquent” on four counts of aggravated assault on June 8, 2021, prohibiting him from possessing a firearm. Nixon also isn’t allowed to have a gun because he is underage, police said.

Nixon is scheduled to appear for a preliminary hearing in connection with the Brighton Heights shooting on Dec. 14. A hearing had not been scheduled in connection with the California-Kirkbride homicide as of Thursday afternoon.