In the early morning hours of November 11, 2007, 34-year-old Lamon R. Kyser III was fatally shot outside the 30-30 Club on Frankstown Avenue in the Homewood neighborhood of Pittsburgh. Kyser, a resident of Wilkinsburg, sustained a gunshot wound to the trunk and was pronounced dead at the scene. The incident that led to his death reportedly began inside the nightclub over a seemingly minor interaction.
According to witnesses, an argument erupted between Kyser and another man, Michael
Anthony Winston, after Kyser complimented a necklace Winston was wearing and touched it. This act apparently angered Winston, and the two men were reported to have argued intermittently throughout the night. An off-duty officer working as security at the club had to remove Winston twice due to the ongoing dispute. The conflict eventually moved outside the club, culminating in the fatal shooting at approximately 3:15 a.m.
For more than two years, the case remained without an arrest. Then, in February 2010, investigators took 36-year-old Michael Anthony Winston of Monroeville into custody, charging him with criminal homicide and criminal conspiracy in connection with Kyser's death. Police cited surveillance video from outside the club as key evidence. The footage reportedly showed Kyser and Winston exiting the club and facing each other just before an unidentified individual, referred to by police as the 'unknown shooter,' fired at Kyser. The video then captured Winston running across the street and fleeing the scene in a silver Land Rover.
Despite the initial charges, the case against Winston took an unexpected turn. In March 2010, the homicide and conspiracy charges against him were withdrawn, and he was released from jail. Eyewitness accounts that emerged later described Kyser and Winston shaking hands and even hugging outside the club shortly before the shooting occurred. This new information complicated the narrative of a fatal dispute between the two men. While Winston was seen fleeing the scene, the identity of the person who actually fired the shot that killed Lamon Kyser remains unknown, and the case was left without a resolution.
