Trial begins for Swissvale man accused of killing 85-year-old in North Braddock

After Thomas Cole said Courde Day shot him four times in the leg in on Nov. 19, 2018 in Cole’s North Braddock cellular store, he refused to tell police who did it.

“I didn’t want to because there’s a code in the streets,” Cole testified Wednesday. “I would have never spoke to the police about this.”

But the next day, when James Dent Jr. was also shot — and paralyzed — inside Cole’s store, Cole said he agreed to tell the police what he knew.

“An 85-year-old man gets shot in my store, and he was my best friend,” Cole told the jury, explaining his decision.

Cole said he was in the apartment living space in the back of his Jones Avenue store that evening arguing with his girlfriend when he heard shots out front.

After the shooting concluded — with at least eight rounds fired — Cole testified that he went to check on Dent, who did odd jobs for him.

“Mr. Dent was laying on the ground, shot in his back,” Cole said. “He said that ‘Dae Dae’ shot him.”

Day, who had been Cole’s friend for years, was the same man who shot him the day before, Cole testified.

Day, 23, of Swissvale, is charged with criminal homicide, aggravated assault and related charges from the two incidents.

His trial began Wednesday before Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge Beth A. Lazzara.

It will resume Thursday morning with Cole still on the stand.

Although Dent initially survived the shooting, he died on May 9, 2019, from an infection and lower body paralysis caused by the gunshot wound.

During cross-examination by defense attorney Turahn Jenkins, Cole admitted that he sold drugs out of his store and kept guns there. He also admitted he had a lot of enemies in the neighborhood.

“I was doing pretty well in the drug trade,” he said.

After the shootings, Cole was indicted in federal court on gun charges in February 2019 and pleaded guilty. He was sentenced to serve two years in prison and has since been released.

He testified Wednesday that his store closed after he was charged. Before that, though, he said he had video surveillance cameras inside that were constantly recording.

However, he told Jenkins that he never went back to check them after he and Dent were shot.

“I lived it. I didn’t have to go back and look at it,” Cole said. “I don’t know why I didn’t. I took his word as to who.”

“His word was enough?” Jenkins asked.

“To me,” Cole replied. “He told me that ‘Dae Dae’ shot him.”

Cole said the county police never asked him for the videos.

Assistant District Attorney Ryan Kiray told the jury in his opening statement that Dent was an “innocent man who got caught in the crossfire of someone else’s beef.”

The beef between Cole and Day started moments before the Nov. 19 shooting, Kiray said.

Cole testified that he and Day had been longtime friends, and that the day of the shooting Day was hanging out with him in his store. Cole said he went to the bathroom, and when he returned, Day was pointing a gun at him.

“I said, ‘Come on, man. We’re better than this,’” Cole testified.

He told the jury he then leapt at his friend to try to get the gun away. The two tussled over it, and it went off striking Cole four times in the leg.

Day fled from the store, and Cole was taken to an area hospital where he was treated and released.

“The defendant came back the next day to finish the job,” Kiray said.