Attempted homicide case dismissed for woman accused of running over boyfriend

Police said Jazmine Jesik-Smalley hit Darnell Harris three times with her minivan.

By JUSTIN VELLUCCI
TribLive

A McKeesport district judge Monday tossed out an attempted homicide case in which a Pittsburgh woman had been charged with hitting and running over her boyfriend multiple times with her minivan.

But the Allegheny County District Attorney’s Office said it doesn’t intend for the case to end there.

The district judge dismissed the case this week “after the victim failed to appear on more than one occasion,” First Assistant District Attorney Rebecca Spangler told TribLive Tuesday.

“This is a serious case,” Spangler added, “and the commonwealth intends to attempt to refile the charges.”

Prosecutors have two years to refile, the district judge said.

McKeesport police in July arrested Jazmine Jesik-Smalley days after the 31-year-old Carrick woman hit her then-boyfriend, Darnell Harris, with her silver Chevrolet van after an argument, according to a criminal complaint.

Jesik-Smalley faced six charges — attempted homicide, felony counts of aggravated assault and aggravated assault by vehicle, and misdemeanor counts of simple assault, making terroristic threats and reckless endangerment.

She was taken July 1 to the Allegheny County Jail.

District Judge Joseph Pero dismissed all charges during Jesik-Smalley’s preliminary hearing Monday, court records show.

Both Pero and the Allegheny County Public Defenders’ Office, which represented Jesik-Smalley, declined comment.

McKeesport police were dispatched around 12:45 a.m. June 16 to a Sunoco gas station where police said surveillance footage showed Jesik-Smalley hitting Harris repeatedly with the vehicle.

Surveillance footage from a Lysle Boulevard bank showed a minivan with Pennsylvania plates leave the gas station, then “accelerate … at a high rate of speed” toward Harris, the complaint said. He was hit with “a force so hard that it pushed him into the street.”

The van “then circulated in the parking lot and accelerated again toward Harris,” the complaint said. The victim tried moving out of the way but the van “made a quick turn” and ran over Harris with its front tire.

Harris could “be seen crawling out from underneath the carriage of the vehicle” in the footage, according to the complaint.

Police said the victim was hit a third time — with “a force so hard that Harris’ body slammed to the ground, causing his head to hit off the street.”

Harris hurt “multiple parts of his body,” including a bloodied lip and elbow, but declined medical treatment at the scene, the complaint said.

Officers said they used license-plate readers to lead them to the van — and to Jesik-Smalley.

Court records showed prosecutors twice asked the judge to postpone Jesik-Smalley’s preliminary hearing. In both instances, the victim was listed as either “not present” or “unavailable.”

Neither Harris nor Jesik-Smalley could be reached Tuesday for comment. McKeesport police did not return phone calls or an email seeking comment.