A Pittsburgh couple has been charged with attempted homicide following a shooting Wednesday in the city’s Homewood South neighborhood that left another woman hospitalized in guarded condition.
Authorities said the victim, who they did not name, was shot in the face. She has been downgraded from critical condition at UPMC Presbyterian Hospital.
Pittsburgh police said one of the suspects, Christian Nichole Wells, 28, admitted she fired the gun that wounded the victim. Wells’ boyfriend and fellow suspect, Kevin Michael Doubt-Young, 34, said he provided Wells with the gun, according to a criminal complaint filed by police.
The shooting occurred about 7:30 a.m. in the 7000 block of Kelly Street, police said.
Police said Wells told them she was attempting to “trick” the victim into handing over $100 that Doubt-Young felt he was owed for a drug transaction, according to the complaint.
According to police, in one version of her account, Wells said she was holding the gun in the pocket of her hoodie. When the victim punched or grabbed Wells, Wells gripped the gun to keep the victim from getting it, and it discharged.
Wells later said she fired one shot during a struggle with the victim, police said.
Police said Doubt-Young became ill while being questioned and was taken to UPMC Mercy hospital in Pittsburgh. He said the victim approached him to complain about the quality of drugs in the transaction and demanded a refund, and Wells said she would handle it and walked off with the victim, according to the complaint.
Police used surveillance video to track the pair from the shooting scene to an apartment. Police said at the apartment they seized a 9mm pistol with one bullet in the chamber and one in the magazine. Evidence collected at the scene of the shooting included a spent 9mm cartridge found lying in a grassy area next to a pool of blood, according to the complaint.
Wells and Doubt-Young additionally are charged with aggravated assault, robbery and firearms and drug violations.
They were awaiting preliminary arraignment.
After officers brought Doubt-Young from the hospital back to the county police homicide interview room, they said they discovered via a monitor, during a break in the process, that Doubt-Young had smuggled in stamp bags of heroin and was snorting the drug off a table in the room.
Officers returned to the room, confiscated the drug and summoned a medic to check out the suspect, but he refused treatment, according to the complaint.
Jeff Himler is a TribLive staff writer. He can be reached at jhimler@triblive.com. Michael DiVittorio is a TribLive staff writer. He can be reached at mdivittorio@triblive.com.