In the late hours of a Monday night in the Allentown neighborhood of Pittsburgh, a young man's life was tragically cut short. Twenty-year-old Christopher Rodriguez was shot outside his home on Arlington Avenue. Despite being wounded, he managed to make his way back inside the house, where he died a short time later. The incident, which occurred in August 2016, was initially shrouded in mystery, but it would soon become clear that the person responsible was someone Christopher knew.
The
day after the shooting, police arrested 18-year-old Kenneth Murphy in connection with Christopher's death. Investigators discovered that Murphy and Rodriguez were friends, and that Murphy had been at Rodriguez's home on the night of the shooting. Initially, Murphy claimed he was only there to use a cell phone charger. However, a witness provided a different story, telling police that Murphy had arranged to buy a gun from Rodriguez.
Faced with this conflicting account, Murphy's story began to unravel. He eventually admitted to police that he had gone to his friend's house to purchase a gun for $450. Although he didn't have the money, he claimed Rodriguez allowed him to look at the firearms. According to Murphy, he was handling a revolver and, believing it to be unloaded, pulled the trigger multiple times. The gun discharged, striking Rodriguez. An autopsy would later reveal that Christopher had been shot at least three times, including once in the face.
After the shooting, Murphy fled the scene with the weapon and two other guns, which he placed in a bag and threw into a nearby wooded area. He confessed to investigators that he ran because he feared no one would believe it was an accident due to his past criminal record. Following his confession, police were able to recover the bag of guns. Kenneth Murphy was arrested and held in the Allegheny County Jail, facing serious charges including criminal homicide, receiving stolen property, and various weapons violations.
