In the early hours of a Sunday morning in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the life of a three-year-old girl named Chassity Clancy was tragically cut short. On February 9, 2020, inside a home on East Warrington Avenue, the young female was the victim of a fatal shooting. The person responsible was Marlin Pritchard, a 51-year-old man who was in the home babysitting at the time of the incident.
Chassity’s mother had entrusted her daughter to the care of Pritchard’s girlfriend while she was on vacation.
That morning, Pritchard was sleeping in the same bed as Chassity and another child. He kept a loaded pistol-grip shotgun under his pillow, a weapon he later told police he had for protection because he believed people were after him. Around 1:30 a.m., he was jolted awake by the sound of a gunshot. He saw the other child run from the room and then noticed Chassity was motionless. She had sustained a single, fatal gunshot wound to her neck. When police arrived, they found Pritchard in the bedroom near the child. He confessed to detectives, stating, 'This is my fault.'
Pritchard, a convicted felon who was legally prohibited from possessing a firearm, was immediately taken into custody. He was charged with criminal homicide, endangering the welfare of children, and illegal possession of a weapon. In March 2021, Marlin Pritchard appeared before a judge and pleaded guilty to third-degree murder and a firearms violation for his role in Chassity's death. A few months later, in June 2021, he was sentenced for his crimes. A judge ordered him to serve between 14 and 30 years in prison, bringing a legal conclusion to the devastating and entirely preventable death of a young child.
