A Hill District woman on Monday pleaded guilty but mentally ill to stabbing a man to death two years ago outside her home.
Angela Stewart, 36, entered the plea to third-degree murder and will be sentenced in Allegheny County Common Pleas Court on Oct. 7.
According to Deputy District Attorney Alison Bragle, Stewart killed Rasheed McKamey, 28, on May 1, 2022.
Investigators said that McKamey and his girlfriend, who lived on Bedford Avenue near Stewart, had gotten home around 4 a.m. after celebrating her birthday.
They parked in the only open spot on the street near Stewart’s home. After they parked, Stewart came out of her house yelling at McKamey’s girlfriend. Stewart then went into her residence and returned with a kitchen knife, Bragle said.
McKamey got between his girlfriend and Stewart and attempted to calm Stewart and get her to drop the knife.
Instead, the prosecutor said, she began slashing at him.
During the melee, McKamey was stabbed. He then walked down the steps to the sidewalk and collapsed, Bragle said.
Stewart went back into her home and called 911.
When first responders arrived, they found McKamey on the ground, with his girlfriend putting pressure on his wounds.
He died a short time later at a local hospital.
McKamey had been stabbed three times in the chest and stomach.
In an interview with police, Stewart admitted she stabbed the victim, even though she didn’t know him, Bragle said. Stewart also told police that when she stabbed him, McKamey was attempting to act as a peacekeeper.
She told investigators she believed she had been followed in the past, and that the white van McKamey and his girlfriend arrived in was the car that had been following her.
Defense attorney Milton Raiford said after the hearing that his client has a long history of bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. He hired a mental health expert to evaluate Stewart, and the prosecution had her examined, as well.
Raiford praised the prosecutor for working together to reach the guilty but mentally ill plea.
In Pennsylvania, a plea of guilty but mentally ill assures that a defendant will receive mental health treatment in the state prison system.
Paula Reed Ward is a TribLive reporter covering federal and Allegheny County courts. She joined the Trib in 2019 after spending nearly 17 years at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, where she was part of a Pulitzer Prize-winning team. She is the author of “Death by Cyanide.” She can be reached at pward@triblive.com.