In the early hours of April 20, 2017, the Crawford Village housing complex in McKeesport, Pennsylvania, was shattered by the sound of gunfire. When the echoes faded, 49-year-old Raffel Greene and his 32-year-old girlfriend, Jessica Taylor, were left fatally wounded. The couple, who did not reside in the complex, were inside a white Kia sedan in a parking lot when they were shot multiple times shortly after midnight.
Responding to several 911 calls, McKeesport police and emergency
services arrived to a grim scene. Raffel Greene, a male from Clairton, was found lying in the middle of North Grandview Avenue, having managed to get out of the car before collapsing. Jessica Taylor, of Finleyville, was discovered in the passenger seat of the vehicle. Both were pronounced dead at the scene. The medical examiner later determined that Greene died from a gunshot wound to the neck, while Taylor sustained a fatal shot to the head.
Allegheny County Police homicide detectives took over the investigation, which from the outset was clouded with mystery. The motive for the shooting was not immediately clear, and authorities found no weapon at the scene. Detectives appealed to the public for assistance, urging anyone who may have seen someone fleeing the area or witnessed any part of the incident to come forward. A reward of up to $1,000 was offered by Pittsburgh Crime Stoppers for information that would lead to an arrest and prosecution in the double homicide.
Despite the pleas for information and the ongoing investigation, no suspects have been publicly identified or arrested in connection with the murders of Raffel Greene and Jessica Taylor. The case remains an unsolved tragedy, leaving a daughter to mourn a father she described as her best friend and a good grandfather who was the primary caregiver for his own elderly mother.
