A group of four people heading to a Rostraver bar to continue ringing in 2022 was irritated to come upon a red SUV traveling slowly on Rostraver Road, Shaquala Poole testified in Westmoreland County court Wednesday.
Her boyfriend at the time — Anthony Hairston — was behind the wheel of her white Chevrolet Traverse while Poole sat in the passenger seat. Two friends — Yasmine Taylor and Bianca Love — were in the back.
Hairston crossed the yellow line to pass the red Toyota RAV4 — which witnesses said was being driven under the 35 mph speed limit and braking — on the stretch of rural road about 1:30 a.m. Jan. 1, 2022. As the Chevy began to pass the Toyota, which was being driven by Holly Vadella, Poole said, her passenger-side window went down and she looked over at the SUV.
With his left hand on the steering wheel, Hairston grabbed a pistol with his right hand and extended his arm in front of Poole, firing twice out the window toward the other vehicle, according to testimony from the passengers.
The group then continued about two minutes down the road to Sweeney’s Steakhouse, where they had more drinks. Poole, Taylor and Love all testified Wednesday they were intoxicated before they left Hairston’s Belle Vernon home for the bar.
All three women said they didn’t report the shooting to police. No one in the Chevy talked about it, either.
“Because I was drunk and I didn’t think about it,” Taylor said.
Their testimony came on the second day of a homicide trial for Hairston, 29. He is accused of killing Vadella, 59, who was driving to her Rostraver home after spending New Year’s Eve at her mother’s Fayette County home with their dogs.
She was found dead in her SUV on Rostraver Road by a township officer on patrol. Her dog, which was in the passenger seat, was not hurt.
Hairston is charged with homicide, possession with intent to deliver, possession of a firearm, conspiracy and tampering with evidence. Assistant District Attorney Leo Ciaramitaro indicated prosecutors are seeking a conviction of first-degree murder, which carries a mandatory life sentence.
Vadella had been shot near the left collarbone, and the bullet exited near her right underarm, according to testimony. That bullet was found in her clothing. A second bullet was found in the door of Vadella’s SUV.
Westmoreland County Detective Richard Kranitz testified Wednesday that, when he was called to help with the investigation later in the day Jan. 1, 2022, authorities already had pieced together surveillance video from homes and businesses showing both SUVs traveling on the road about the same time. In one of those videos, he described hearing an engine rev and two gunshots.
Kranitz had a hunch — Sweeney’s was, at the time, a popular bar close by.
“I thought it was just kind of a shot in the dark,” he testified. “Why not go there, and maybe these people were in a hurry to go there for last call?”
Surveillance video from Sweeney’s showed what appeared to be the same white Chevy Traverse pull into the parking lot at 1:36 a.m., about two minutes after the gunshots were heard elsewhere, he said. The owner, a bartender and a third person all recognized the four who got out of the Chevy, and state police started surveillance outside Hairston’s home.
Kranitz said he interviewed Love and Taylor. Troopers pulled Hairston over as he left his home in the Chevy Traverse on Jan. 2, 2022, and Poole was stopped while leaving the house shortly after, he testified. Police seized the pistol suspected to have been used in the shooting and cocaine, authorities said.
Defense attorney Brian Aston questioned Kranitz on why the Chevy Traverse wasn’t tested for gunshot residue. No shell casings were found inside.
“I would not expect to find gunshot residue on an interior of a car just because a gun was fired inside of it,” Kranitz testified. “It wasn’t warranted in this case.”
Poole also is facing charges in the case — hindering apprehension, tampering with evidence and possession with intent to deliver, all related to the pistol and drugs police said she was attempting to remove from Hairston’s house. A status conference in her case is set for Dec. 9.
She testified she doesn’t have any type of deal with the prosecution in exchange for her testimony against Hairston.
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Prosecutors played a call between Hairston and Aimee Joy Miller, 28, of Avalon recorded Aug. 17 at the Westmoreland County Prison during which Hairston asked Miller to post photographs of two specific pages of Poole’s statement to police about the shooting on his Facebook page with comments and emojis.
Kranitz testified he felt that post was threatening to Poole. Hairston and Miller are charged with intimidating a witness and related offenses.
“The whole cumulative part of it I view as very threatening, yes, and possibly jeopardizing (Poole’s) life,” he said. “That served no other purpose than to intimidate this witness and retaliate against this witness.”
Poole testified she was angry about the Facebook post.
“I can’t say that I was afraid because I wasn’t, but it was intimidating of him to do that, to put that on social media,” she said.
Testimony from law enforcement is expected to continue Thursday.