On a Thursday evening in Aliquippa, Pennsylvania, 16-year-old William Cade Booher, a male from Beaver, was fatally shot. The incident occurred on September 29, 2016, in the 1100 block of Wade Street. Booher was a passenger in the backseat of a vehicle with two other individuals when he was shot multiple times and pronounced dead at the scene.
The shooting was the result of a drug deal that turned into a robbery.
Booher, along with 18-year-old Dane Mathesius and a 13-year-old boy, had driven to Aliquippa to sell marijuana. Three teenagers from Aliquippa had planned to rob them of the drugs and money. During the robbery, Lawrence 'Pooh Rat' Reddick Jr., who was 17 at the time, shot Booher in the head. Mathesius, the driver of the car, was also shot and his body was discovered days later less than 500 feet from where Booher was killed. The 13-year-old passenger was able to escape and alert a resident who called 911.
Following the incident, an investigation led to the identification of three suspects: Lawrence Reddick Jr., Ronald 'Reno' Foster Jr., and Deontae Jones, all 17 at the time. Reddick was identified as the shooter. Foster and Jones, both members of the Aliquippa High School football team, were charged as co-conspirators. All three were charged as adults with homicide, conspiracy, and robbery. Reddick initially evaded capture but turned himself in to the police.
The legal proceedings resulted in convictions for all three teenagers. Ronald Foster was found guilty of third-degree murder for his role in planning the robbery and was sentenced to 34 to 70 years in prison. Deontae Jones pleaded guilty to robbery conspiracy in juvenile court and awaited sentencing. After a trial where the jury initially reported a deadlock, Lawrence Reddick Jr. was convicted of first-degree murder in the death of Dane Mathesius and second-degree murder in the death of William Booher, as well as robbery.
