2022 killing of toddler near PPG Place connected to Brighton Heights funeral mass shooting
The Allegheny County District Attorney released brand new information on a shocking case in Downtown Pittsburgh after a toddler was shot and killed while in his car seat last May.
Baby D’Avry Thomas was not the intended target. Wednesday, District Attorney Stephen Zappala released critical evidence from the case, saying the gunmen were after a man who would go on the be the prime suspect in a mass shooting outside a funeral.
Baby D’Avry was in the back seat of a vehicle in May 2022 near Market Square when he was shot and killed. In a video posted on YouTube today, Zappala described it as a beautiful Sunday afternoon and showed a never-before-seen video showing the sun shining, children and adults walking, crossing the street moments before a drive-by shooting took the young boy’s life.
“The baby in the backseat was not the intended target, had the baby been the intended target, we would have considered the death penalty,” Zappala explained.
The incident happened on 4th Avenue off Stanwix Street. Surveillance cameras downtown caught the shooter halfway out the passenger side window, as he fired at the vehicle behind them
“You can see people start running on Stanwix, they can hear the shooting, obviously is a pedestrian in the crosswalk, two young people coming down 4th,” Zappala said.
Markez Anger, the shooter, and Londell Falconer, the driver, were both found guilty last month.
Zappala said the passenger, Hezekiah Nixon, was the intended target.
That Sunday afternoon, police say Nixon’s seat was fully reclined, and the bullet meant for him hit D’Avry in his car seat. Nixon can be seen on video lunging out the driver’s side and getting away.
“They continue to shoot at him, at least four strikes hit the wall between the Wrangler and the corner of Stanwick, pretty good evidence that Nixon was the intended target. Who was the intended victim? They’re criminals. We found bundles of heroin, it’s actually fentanyl, cash, a handgun,” Zappala said.
Nixon was arrested a few months later, as a suspect in the funeral home shooting on the North Side where six people were shot. Nixon is also charged with homicide in connection to a fatal shooting last August.
Zappala released this rare and detailed information today saying he wanted to give people an idea of where we are with violence downtown. He did it via a pre-recorded video and did not make himself available for any questions.
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