Shannon Donte Crosby Sr., a 30-year-old Black/African American male from Erie, Pennsylvania, died on January 27, 2022, after a robbery plot at a short-term rental house in the 3900 block of McClelland Avenue in Erie erupted into gunfire. Investigators described the scene as a confrontation between a group from Erie and a group from Arizona who had traveled to Erie in connection with fentanyl sales. What began as an alleged plan to rob the Arizona group turned into a shootout inside the rental home, and Crosby was later found outside in the roadway, mortally wounded.
According to police and court reporting, Crosby had gone to the rental with others as part of the robbery attempt. Prosecutors later said masked individuals in dark clothing entered the house armed, and gunfire broke out inside. One person from the Arizona group, identified in reporting as Kortez L. Murray, was wounded but survived. Crosby did not. The case was treated not simply as a shooting, but as a felony-murder case tied to the alleged robbery, because authorities said Crosby was killed during the commission of that crime.
Nearly a year after the shooting, Erie police charged four people in connection with Crosby’s death: Julia D. Gaerttner, Marsea S. Jones, Jamie D. Smith Jr., and Derrick S. Wright. They were accused of participating in the attempted robbery that led to the fatal exchange of gunfire, and the charges included criminal homicide, second-degree murder, conspiracy, robbery, and related offenses. Prosecutors alleged the group’s actions set the fatal chain of events in motion, even though Crosby was among those involved in the alleged robbery attempt.
Jamie D. Smith Jr. became the first major conviction tied directly to Crosby’s death. Smith, who was described as Crosby’s friend, was accused of firing during the incident. In January 2024, just before testimony was expected to begin in his trial, Smith pleaded no contest to third-degree murder and conspiracy to commit robbery. Erie County Judge David Ridge accepted a sentencing agreement and imposed 30 to 60 years in state prison, the maximum possible sentence for the two crimes under that agreement. The sentence meant Smith would not be eligible for parole for 30 years.
Derrick S. Wright’s case moved separately. His January 2024 trial began with prosecutors outlining the alleged robbery plot and the fatal shootout, but the proceeding ended in a mistrial after a comment was made during testimony. Julia Gaerttner testified during that trial that she drove Wright, Crosby, and others to the McClelland Avenue house. She said she believed she was taking them to a family member’s home, but also testified she became concerned because people in the car had guns. She further said she was told to pop the hood of the vehicle and go inside the rental to tell the occupants she was having car trouble.
Wright was retried, and in February 2025 a jury found him not guilty of second-degree murder but convicted him on other counts connected to the robbery attempt. Reporting in May 2025 stated that Wright was sentenced for his role in the 2022 attempted robbery and fatal shooting. During sentencing, Wright addressed Crosby’s family and said he would not have left his friend behind. The online summaries available confirm that a sentence was imposed, but they do not provide the exact prison term.
The Arizona occupants of the rental also faced drug-related charges after the investigation. Reporting identified Saul Felix, Abner L. Gonzalez, Deontray E. Keomany-Smith, and Kortez L. Murray as members of the Arizona group. Gonzalez pleaded guilty to a felony conspiracy drug count and received a sentence of eight to 23 months in prison with credit for time served, followed by three years of probation. Felix pleaded guilty to misdemeanor drug counts and was sentenced to two years of probation. As of the available reporting from the trial period, Keomany-Smith and Murray were still awaiting trial on their drug cases.
The case was later referenced in a broader federal investigation into the Erie gang known as 4-Nation. A federal indictment described the McClelland Avenue shooting as one of the alleged overt acts in a larger racketeering case and alleged that Crosby was connected to 4-Nation. The four people charged in Crosby’s killing were not named as defendants in that federal RICO case, but the shooting was used by federal authorities as part of the larger picture of violence and drug trafficking they alleged surrounded the organization.
Available online reporting confirms Smith’s no-contest plea and 30-to-60-year sentence, Wright’s acquittal on the murder count and conviction on other robbery-related counts, and Wright’s later sentencing. It also confirms the original homicide and robbery charges against Gaerttner and Jones, but the accessible online sources reviewed did not confirm final convictions or sentencing outcomes for Gaerttner or Jones.
