A jitney-driving ex-con who said he was looking to buy drugs is headed to Allegheny County court next month in connection with the fatal Nov. 22 shooting of a Stowe Township man, authorities said.
Allegheny County Police had charged Arrmon Hagans, 43, of Wilkinsburg, with criminal homicide; three counts each of firearm and drug possession; and one count each of attempted burglary, conspiracy to commit homicide and tampering with physical evidence, court records show.
Prosecutors withdrew three drug possession charges Wednesday afternoon during his preliminary hearing, court records show. Hagans remains in Allegheny County Jail in Pittsburgh. A judge denied him bail Dec. 1.
Hagan is set to be arraigned by a county judge Jan. 5, court records show.
The Allegheny County Public Defender’s Office, which represents Hagans, was not immediately available for comment Wednesday.
Hagans told Allegheny County Police that he was bar-hopping Nov. 22 in a gray Dodge Charger his girlfriend had rented before picking up two younger men near Sto-Rox High School for a jitney ride, according to a criminal complaint in the case.
Hagans told the young men he wanted to buy marijuana, the complaint said. The younger men were interested, too, and walked with Hagans to the door of an alleged drug dealer in Stowe Township.
Michael Dean, 26, opened the door of the house in the 800 block of Benwood Avenue, the complaint said. Dean saw one of the young men had a gun and “quickly slammed the door,” Hagans told police.
One of the young men fired a single round into the front door, the complaint said. Dean was killed after being struck in the head. The men fled.
A man named Michael Dean who is 26 and has a McKees Rocks mailing address pleaded guilty to carrying a firearm without a license in May 2022, court records show.Judge Jill Rangos sentenced him to six months of probation.
Court records showed no drug-related charges against Dean.
Hagans told police he took the gun that killed Dean and dropped the young men near the high school, the complaint said.
In the meantime, Dean’s parents arrived at their son’s house because he stopped answering phone calls about picking up items for Thanksgiving dinner, the complaint said. They found him dead on the floor, near the front door.
A day later, the Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office determined that Dean was shot to death. The shooting was ruled a homicide.
Authorities say video from a Stowe Township tavern and a borough-owned camera, spotted Hagans driving the gray Dodge Charger toward Dean’s house Nov. 22.
The say detectives also found video from Dean’s house showing a gray Dodge Charger fleeing the scene, the complaint said. Police used license-plate readers to track the vehicle and search it.
Hagans was apprehended Nov. 30, when North Fayette Township Police responded to an Extended Stay America hotel near Pittsburgh International Airport on reports of an unresponsive man, the complaint said.
Police went to a hotel room with the manager and found Hagans passed out Police woke him.
Officers found a loaded Hi-Point Model C9 9mm handgun in the room, as well as a substance believed to be cocaine, another believed to be marijuana, and a small digital scale.
Hagans is serving federal probation and cannot own a gun, the complaint said.
In 2019, Hagans pleaded guilty in federal court to a charge of possession with intent to distribute fentanyl, heroin, cocaine and other drugs, court records show. U.S. District Court Judge Nora Barry Fischer sentenced Hagans in November 2019 to 18 months in federal prison, followed by six years of probation.
Hagans was released from federal prison on Dec. 23, 2022, Federal Bureau of Prisons records show.
County police spokesman Jim Madalinsky declined to make any additional comments.
Police are seeking to identify two remaining suspects involved in the homicide, Madalinsky said. Anyone with information is asked to call the County Police Tip Line at 1-833-255-8477.