In the early morning hours of November 26, 2008, 32-year-old Darnell J. Kyte was found shot in the head on a sidewalk in the Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Police discovered his body at approximately 4:30 a.m. outside his home on Dunseith Street. He was pronounced dead at the scene before paramedics could arrive. The Allegheny County medical examiner later ruled his death a homicide, confirming he had been shot in the back of the head.
Investigators found two shell casings and a take-out food order from the Original Hot Dog Shop near Kyte's body. It is believed he may have been at the restaurant on Forbes Avenue just moments before the shooting, which was less than a mile from his residence. Police hoped to review surveillance footage from the restaurant to determine if anyone was with him prior to the incident. Neighbors reported hearing gunshots but did not see what happened.
Darnell Kyte, a father of three, had a significant criminal history, with an arrest record dating back to 1994 when he was 18. State court records indicated that he had used as many as eight different aliases. In 1996, he faced more than a dozen criminal charges in Allegheny County and ultimately pleaded guilty to a felony drug charge and several misdemeanors, which included simple assault and escape, resulting in a three- to six-year prison sentence. While police were aware of his past, they stated that he was the victim of a homicide and were seeking information from the public who may have seen him in the early morning hours before his death.
Despite the initial investigation and appeals for public assistance, there have been no subsequent reports of arrests or named suspects in the killing of Darnell Kyte. The case remains an unsolved homicide.
