Area man charged as getaway driver in double murder
By JUSTIN VELLUCCI
TribLive
A 20-year-old man has been charged with driving the getaway car after a double murder outside a bar last month in Clairton and then hiding the gun.
Temon Jackson claimed he was forced to chauffeur the shooter, according to a criminal complaint.
Allegheny County Police charged Jackson, of Clairton, on July 30 with hindering apprehension, tampering with evidence and related charges in the killing five days earlier of Robert Allen Jones and Terez Russell.
County police last month charged Dashawn Hines, 19, of Clairton with homicide in the fatal shooting of the men on July 25 in the 800 block of Miller Avenue.
Jackson told police he was forced to drive a silver Nissan SUV on the night of the shooting with Hines and another man as his passengers, according to the complaint.
After the vehicle stopped at the Fuel On gas station on Miller Avenue, Hines fired multiple shots around 6:35 p.m. at a group standing outside The Village Inn, about two blocks from the gas station, police said. Jackson told police he was tapped with a gun as a sign to take off, the complaint said.
Police said they later found surveillance footage showing Jackson dumping the gun used in the shooting.
Jackson was taken into custody and arraigned Sunday, court records show. A district judge denied his bail, citing public safety concerns.
Girlfriend’s gun
Surveillance footage from Fuel On showed Jackson, Hines and a third man — identified in court records as “Witness 3” — exit the station’s store and get into the SUV, the complaint said.
A camera at The Village Inn showed the two victims and another man, who was not identified, standing and talking outside the establishment.
Police said the SUV pulled up to the bar and stopped next to the three men. A man in the back seat of the car shot what “appeared to be a semi-automatic weapon” at Russell and Jones before the SUV drove away, the complaint said.
Paramedics rushed Jones, 32, and Russell, 30 both of Clairton, to an area hospital, where they died.
Police said they found bullet casings and bloody clothing outside The Village Inn.
That night, county 911 received a call from a man — later identified by police as Jackson — who said he was the driver in the shooting and claimed he was forced to do so, according to the complaint.
Police later interviewed Jackson’s girlfriend, who said Jackson “told her he was involved in something” on the night of the shooting, the complaint said.
Jackson’s girlfriend, who investigators did not name, reported to Pitcairn police that a gun she bought for Jackson in June at a sports store in West Mifflin was stolen, the complaint said.
Police said someone identified as Witness 2, who they did not name, told investigators the gun, a Glock, was the murder weapon.
Jackson cannot carry a gun legally because he was convicted on a firearm possession charge as a juvenile, according to the complaint.
Video evidence
Police said they later found video from the Clairton home of Jackson’s grandmother that showed Jackson exiting the SUV to get rid of the gun.
“Y’all good because I was on camera driving, so ya’ll good, hand me the banger, hand me my banger,” Jackson can be heard saying in the video, according to the complaint. A man in the SUV handed Jackson an item. After the SUV pulled away, Jackson walked up the driveway and said, “Shot two (racial slurs) on camera, bro.” It was not clear from the complaint whether Jackson was directing those comments to anyone in particular.
