Judge rules no merit to claims that dead twin brother was Jeannette shooter

The appeal of a Penn Hills man serving life in prison for a murder he claims was committed by his dead twin brother was rejected Tuesday by a Westmoreland County judge.

Common Pleas Court Judge Meagan Bilik-DeFazio, in an 11-page decision, called the appeal from Darrelle Tolbert-McGhee “without merit” and said there was no evidence to support the defense claim that jurors ignored evidence that it was his twin brother who shot and killed Michael Wilson, 32, on April 13, 2017, in Jeannette.

During a week-long trial in January, prosecutors claimed Tolbert-McGhee fired nine shots at Wilson following an afternoon argument in front of the Dollar General Store on Clay Avenue.

Jurors deliberated for two hours before convicting Tolbert-McGhee, 31, of first-degree murder and a weapons offense. He was sentenced in June to serve a life prison sentence.

Tolbert-McGhee did not testify during the trial but through alibi witnesses claimed he was in Florida at the time of the shooting. Defense attorney Tim Dawson argued to jurors that Tolbert-McGhee’s twin brother, Dwayne, who had been shot and killed in late 2017 in Wilkinsburg, was the man who murdered Wilson in Jeannette.

Two prosecution witnesses identified Darrelle Tolbert-McGhee as Wilson’s killer, including one woman who said she exchanged phone numbers with him in the store minutes before the shooting.

Wilson’s girlfriend also told jurors that she could tell the Tolbert-McGhee brothers apart and identified him as the man prosecutors said was on surveillance video taken from security cameras near the scene before and after the murder.

“The testimony of these witnesses provides a sufficient basis for the jury to conclude that the defendant was the shooter,” Bilik-DeFazio wrote.

Defense claims that the judge made incorrect rulings during the trial also were rejected.