In the early morning hours of June 3, 2016, Richard West-Gray, a 26-year-old African-American male from Pittsburgh's Hill District, was fatally shot in a vehicle on Route 65 near the McKees Rocks Bridge. The incident, which also claimed the life of 24-year-old Carlton Watson Jr., occurred just before 5 a.m. as the two men were traveling in a sedan.
Responding officers discovered both men with gunshot wounds and, despite administering CPR, they were pronounced dead at the scene by paramedics.
Known to his friends and family as 'Shooter Rich,' West-Gray was a father and was engaged to be married. His family described him as a man who was employed at Target and was pursuing a rap career, trying to distance himself from a difficult past. The shooting left his family, including his mother Louise Gray and his fiancée Pasha Wilson, devastated and searching for answers. The investigation into the double homicide was immediately launched by Pittsburgh Police, who closed off a section of the busy highway for several hours to process the crime scene.
In the months that followed, the investigation struggled to gain traction, with authorities citing a lack of witnesses and actionable leads. This lack of progress prompted the mothers of both West-Gray and Watson to make a public plea for information in October 2016, urging anyone with knowledge of the crime to come forward. They emphasized that providing information was a moral obligation, not 'snitching,' in the hopes of bringing justice to their sons. Despite their emotional appeal and the ongoing police investigation, no arrests have been made in the case, and no suspects have been publicly identified. The deaths of Richard West-Gray and Carlton Watson Jr. remain an unsolved crime, emblematic of the challenges faced in resolving violent crimes within the community.
