In the early hours of July 5, 2016, a simmering altercation at the Snowden Terrace Apartments in Brownsville, Pennsylvania, erupted into fatal violence, claiming the life of 28-year-old Taekwon Commodore. A Black / African American man from the nearby community of Republic, Commodore was caught in the crossfire when a dispute between two groups escalated into a chaotic scene of gunfire shortly before 1 a.m. The night, which had been filled with the sounds of a large 4th of July party with hundreds of people, took a dark turn when an argument broke out, with accusations of being 'snitches' leveled after police were called about a burglary.
Amid the chaos, at least one individual, and possibly more, began shooting. Witnesses described a terrifying scene with one man firing a handgun into the air, causing people, including Commodore and his friends, to scatter and run for cover between the apartment buildings. As they fled, more shots were fired in their direction, and Commodore was struck in the neck. In a desperate attempt to save him, his friends drove him to the Brownsville police station. From there, he was transported by ambulance to Uniontown Hospital, but his injuries proved to be too severe, and he was pronounced dead. The cause of his death was later determined to be exsanguination and bilateral hemothorax from the single gunshot wound.
The investigation into Taekwon Commodore's death led to two different men being charged with his murder. Initially, Jamal D. Brown, 21 at the time, was arrested and charged with criminal homicide and four counts of aggravated assault. However, after Brown had spent four and a half months in jail, the homicide charge against him was withdrawn in November 2016. The focus of the investigation then shifted, and in October 2017, O'Shea Carrington Thomas, then 24, was arrested and ordered to stand trial for the homicide.
During Thomas's preliminary hearing, witnesses recounted the pandemonium of that night. One witness testified to seeing Thomas with a large handgun shortly before the shooting and later hearing him say, 'I think I got him. I think I shot him.' Another witness also claimed to have heard Thomas confess to the shooting. Despite the defense's argument that no one directly saw Thomas shoot Commodore, the judge found there was enough evidence for the case to proceed. O'Shea Carrington Thomas was charged with criminal homicide, criminal conspiracy to engage in homicide, aggravated assault, recklessly endangering another person, and tampering with evidence. He was held in Fayette County Prison without bail to await trial.
