On a Tuesday morning in June of 2021, 24-year-old Robert Higginbotham was working with a landscaping crew in Penn Hills, a suburb of Pittsburgh. Just after finishing mowing a lawn on Mt. Carmel Road and returning to his truck, a man approached and opened fire. Higginbotham was struck by multiple gunshots. Witnesses reported hearing as many as nine rounds fired. The shooter, described as a Black male in a black hoodie and blue jeans, was seen fleeing the scene and running towards a nearby cemetery. First responders found Higginbotham still alive, having tried to crawl out of the truck, but he succumbed to his injuries at the scene.
The investigation into the death of the young man, who had a fiancée and children, stretched on for months, causing frustration for his grieving family who pleaded for justice. His mother, Temillia Demery, publicly expressed her anguish and desire to know why her son was killed. Investigators from the Allegheny County Police Homicide Unit worked the case, gathering evidence which included video footage from the area that reportedly showed the shooter running from the location.
Six months after the shooting, in December 2021, an arrest was made. Authorities took 23-year-old Tracy Carpenter into custody without incident at a residence in the nearby borough of Plum. He was charged with criminal homicide, aggravated assault, and recklessly endangering another person, among other offenses. Police indicated that the shooting was a targeted attack and that the suspect had sought out Higginbotham.
Following his arrest, Tracy Carpenter was held in the Allegheny County Jail. In March 2022, a preliminary hearing was held where prosecutors presented evidence, including video footage of the incident. The case was deemed to have sufficient evidence to move forward to trial. At the hearing, Higginbotham's fiancée, Oshnaysua Mosley, expressed her relief that the case was progressing and her desire for answers about why he was killed, a motive that investigators had not publicly disclosed. She lamented that their son would never get to meet his father.
