Deion Levar Nesbitt, a 24-year-old Black man, was working as a security guard at the Rendezvous Phase III bar in Pittsburgh's Homewood neighborhood on the night of February 16, 2015. Known by friends and family as a 'gentle giant,' Nesbitt enjoyed his work, taking pride in protecting people and ensuring their safety. He had a passion for working with children, having served as a youth counselor at local YMCAs, and had also played semi-pro football.
The bar where he worked, however, had a history of violence, a fact that would tragically alter the course of that Monday evening.
Just before midnight, a patron notified staff that another man in the bar, 26-year-old Harvey Scott Jr., was armed. Nesbitt was tasked with escorting Scott out of the establishment. As Nesbitt attempted to remove him, a physical altercation broke out. The struggle escalated quickly, and Scott produced a firearm, shooting Nesbitt multiple times. A female security guard was also grazed by a bullet during the chaos. Nesbitt was rushed to UPMC Presbyterian Hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries.
In the immediate aftermath, Harvey Scott Jr. fled the scene in a vehicle but was apprehended by police shortly after he crashed his car into a fire hydrant just a few blocks away. The investigation into Nesbitt's death expanded over the following weeks, leading to the arrest of three other men believed to have been involved in the altercation. Tiqwan Green, Eric McGuire, and Kevin Ford were all taken into custody. The men faced a range of charges, including homicide, criminal conspiracy, and aggravated assault, based on surveillance footage and witness accounts that suggested they had aided Scott in overpowering the security guard.
As the case proceeded through the legal system, the initial charges against some of the suspects were altered. In March 2015, a judge dismissed the homicide charge against Eric McGuire, and by the beginning of April, prosecutors had dropped all charges against both McGuire and Kevin Ford, stating that while there was probable cause for their arrests, the burden of proof for a conviction could not be met. In September 2016, Harvey Scott Jr., the man who fired the fatal shots, pleaded guilty to third-degree murder, theft, and a firearms charge. He was sentenced to 10 to 20 years in prison. Before his sentencing, Scott offered an apology to Nesbitt's family, stating, 'If I could take it back, I would.' Tiqwan Green was also ordered to stand trial on a homicide charge, though the final disposition of his case is not publicly documented.
