In the late summer of 2015, a young man from Philadelphia, 19-year-old Robert Alston, lost his life in a tragic and unforeseen incident in Pittsburgh. An African American male, Alston was a passenger in a vehicle with his friend, Eietyoung Kemp, who was also 19 at the time. What was meant to be a trip to a party ended in a fatal shooting that would be described by the perpetrator as a tragic accident.
On August 22, 2015, while riding in the car, Kemp, who was in the backseat, attempted
to adjust a firearm he had concealed in his underwear. The gun discharged, sending a bullet through the front seat and striking Alston. After the shooting, Kemp fled the scene in a panic and discarded the firearm in the Allegheny River. Alston was driven to a local hospital but succumbed to the gunshot wound to his torso.
In the days following the incident, Eietyoung Kemp turned himself in to the authorities. He was initially charged with criminal homicide, carrying a firearm without a license, reckless endangerment, and tampering with physical evidence. Kemp maintained that the shooting was accidental.
Ultimately, the homicide charge was changed to involuntary manslaughter. In February 2016, Kemp pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter and carrying a firearm without a license. In May of that year, he was sentenced to serve 11 and a half to 23 months in prison, followed by 10 years of probation for his role in the death of his friend.
