In the late hours of a Wednesday evening in Pittsburgh's Hill District, the life of 18-year-old Earnest Williams was tragically cut short. On May 28, 2014, just before 11:30 p.m., Williams was shot in the back in the 800 block of Memory Lane. A nearby resident heard the shots and rushed to his aid, finding the young man bleeding. Before being transported to UPMC Mercy Hospital, where he would later succumb to his injuries, Williams was able to tell the woman his name, his age, and his mother's
phone number. He was a student on the verge of a bright future, set to graduate from University Prep the following week with plans to attend college in the fall. His mother described him as a good kid who was not involved in drugs. Despite the family's emotional pleas for answers and for anyone with information to come forward, no arrests were ever made in connection with his murder. His mother and grandmother expressed their profound grief and their hope for justice, a hope that has so far remained unfulfilled.
In a separate and unrelated case, another man from Pittsburgh also met a violent end. His body was discovered in the Ohio River near the Rivers Casino. The Allegheny County Medical Examiner's Office later ruled his death a homicide by drowning. An investigation revealed a grim story of a brutal attack that occurred along the Allegheny River. Surveillance footage captured the man walking with an unidentified woman when he was ambushed by three men who had been following him. The assault was brief but vicious. Video showed one man dragging him toward the river while another, later identified as Jose Soto, stomped on his head. He was then thrown into the river. Soto, who was 25 years old at the time, was later arrested and charged with homicide, robbery, and conspiracy in connection with the killing. He was apprehended after being taken to the Allegheny County Jail on a separate drug offense, where the fugitive apprehension unit recognized him as matching the description of one of the suspects. During questioning, Soto admitted to being one of the men in the surveillance footage and to smoking crack with another suspect, whom he refused to name. It was not clear if the other two suspects were ever taken into custody.
