Carnegie man gets 12-24 years in prison for slaying outside Club Erotica

A judge Thursday took a Carnegie man to task as she sentenced him to prison for a fatal shooting outside a McKees Rocks strip club three years ago following a dispute in the parking lot.

Charles Becher, 27, was sentenced to 12 to 24 years in prison by Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge Kelly Bigley.

“He involved himself in something he didn’t need to be involved in,” Bigley said. “He went looking for a fight.”

Guidelines suggested a sentence of 7 1/2 years in prison, but the judge went over that, telling the defendant that he was the one who escalated the dispute that night.

Seth McDermit was killed on Jan. 29, 2021, in the parking lot of Club Erotica.

Police said that McDermit and his friends were involved in a confrontation that night with someone else when two female relatives of Becher’s inserted themselves into the altercation.

The women approached the men, and people began pushing, shoving and hitting.

Becher, who had initially been inside the strip club, came outside and pulled a gun from his waistband.

He pointed it at the men and struck one of them in the face with it.

The gun was knocked from Becher’s hand, according to video from the scene, and the men advanced on Becher.

He reached his gun on the ground nearby and fired it, killing McDermit.

Also killed that night was Christopher Butler, 22, of West Mifflin. Khalil Walls was charged with homicide in his death but was later acquitted at trial.

Becher, who was wounded in the thigh, stayed at the scene and claimed self-defense at his trial in the fall of 2021.

But after three days of deliberations, the jury found him guilty of third-degree murder.

In January 2022, Judge Anthony M. Mariani, who has since retired, threw out the jury’s verdict and ordered a new trial.

He based his decision on a comment made during the trial in which a a witness testified that one of Becher’s cousins said that night that he was going to “smoke all of them.”

Mariani said he believed the comment deprived Becher of a fair trial.

However, the prosecution appealed to the state Superior Court, which reversed Mariani and reinstated the conviction.

The case was reassigned to Bigley, who revoked Becher’s bond in March.

Gentle giant or gangster?

On Thursday, she listened as several of McDermit’s loved ones described their loss.

Steve McDermit told the court that his son was killed 1,343 days ago.

“I’ve never known emotional pain ever like this in my life,” he said.

McDermit, 31, was an Allegheny County corrections officer, his family said. He had four children, now ages 14, 10, 7 and 3. He loved going fishing and was part of a motorcycle club.

His mother, Debra McDermit, told the court that she and her husband, who live in Missouri, FaceTimed with their son every Sunday.

The week before he was killed, she said, they talked about plans for him and his children to visit the next summer.

“Charles Becher made a decision to end Seth’s life for what?” she asked. “What gave him the right to do that.”

Kelly Gronsky called McDermit, who she described as a gentle giant, the love of her life.

She had given birth to their daughter, just seven weeks before he was killed.

The little girl has no memories of her father, Gronsky said.

“She does know she doesn’t have a daddy, and she is mad now,” she said. “Do you know how much weight is on my shoulders because of the defendant’s actions?”

Gronsky described having a scar on the inside of her cheek from biting it every time she has to talk to her daughter about her dad.

“The only thing I’m certain of is Seth’s innocence,” she said. “None of Seth’s actions should have led to this.”

During the sentencing hearing, Deputy District Attorney Ryan Kiray played the video from outside the club that night showing the altercation and shooting.

“Seth McDermit was trying to de-escalate the situation,” Kiray said, narrating the video.

The prosecutor blamed Becher for inserting himself into the dispute after it had already ended.

“This was over until he brought it back. He’s not the victim.”

Kiray said that McDermit’s family was upset during the trial by the defense team’s efforts to “demonize” McDermit.

Becher’s former defense attorney, James Wymard, told the jury that McDermit and his friends were part of a biker gang who were drunk and had cocaine in their system that night.

McDermit, who was 6 feet 5 inches tall and weighed 270 pounds, threatened to kill his client, Wymard said.

But Kiray told the judge McDermit was trying to leave the club.

“He wasn’t a gangster. He was a prison guard. He had four children,” the prosecutor said. “He tried to stop a bad situation from going further.”

Tearful apology

In arguing for a lesser sentence, defense attorney Owen Seman told the court that his client did not have any intent that night to hurt anyone.

“Nothing about his history or past shows this was in his character,” Seman said.

Miranda Jones, Becher’s sister, told the court that their mother left them when Becher was just 2 years old, and that they grew up without much.

“He wanted his adulthood to be different,” she said. “He wanted to get away from everything we grew up around.”

Becher enlisted in the Army, served three years and then when he was discharged joined the National Guard, Seman said.

Becher was activated to protect President Joe Biden at his inauguration, had no criminal record and was legally carrying a gun the night McDermit was killed.

When it was his turn to address the court, Becher turned to face McDermit’s family in the gallery.

“I know you think I’m not remorseful,” he said. “That couldn’t be further from the truth.”

He cried as he spoke to the victim’s mom and dad.

“I’m sorry to you as parents that I took your son from you,” Becher said. “And I’m sorry I took their father away from his kids.

“That was never my intention.”