Three Pittsburgh resident are charged with homicide and other crimes in connection with the shooting death of another man in the city’s Marshall-Shadeland neighborhood.
Ernest Adams, 39, was found dead in a home in the 1300 block of Malden Street on Aug. 17, 2021.
Pittsburgh police on Tuesday filed homicide and conspiracy charges against Caia Oliver, 21; Ramone Harrison, 27; and Jermale “Bub” Lewis, 29. Harrison and Lewis also face additional charges of illegally possessing a gun.
The criminal complaints filed against the trio give a detailed report on what police allege to have happened
According to the police documents, Pittsburgh police responded to Malden Street due to ShotSpotter alerts.
They found Adams dead, lying face down in a pool of blood behind the front door of a living room of his residence along the short dead-end street.
Police recovered two different types of bullet casings near the victim’s front door. Other ballistic evidence also indicated there were two shooters outside of the home when the incident took place, court documents read.
Police were also able to obtain video footage from a security camera at the home that captured various activities hours before the murder, according to the criminal complaint.
Police said among the video clips was one showing a woman wearing a nightcap in the victim’s living room around 1 a.m. That woman was later identified as Oliver, according to the criminal complaint.
The camera also captured the shooting itself at about 5:11 a.m.
Police said the video showed Lewis, who was wearing a black medical mask, small backpack and a backwards baseball cap, raise a handgun and fire shots into the home shortly after Oliver left, according to the criminal complaint.
Another shooter was off-camera and behind Lewis, police said.
A computer crimes detective obtained and reviewed video surveillance from Pittsburgh and surrounding areas, including privately owned systems.
An in-depth review led to the identification of a maroon four-door Chevrolet that was in the area before and after the homicide, court documents say.
Police said they identified Lewis as the driver. Video footage at a Speedway gas station showed him wearing identical clothing to that observed during the shooting, the criminal complaint said. Police said the vehicle was registered to Harrison.
A person, identified in the criminal complaint as “Witness 1” and worked with Lewis for a while last year, identified the person shown in the Speedway video as Lewis.
Police searched for the Chevy on Aug. 18, 2021, and located it traveling through Carrick.
Police said Harrison was driving the car at the time without a valid driver’s license.
Harrison led police on a lengthy chase that ended along Novel Way in Carrick. Police then chased Harrison as he fled on foot and eventually captured him.
Pittsburgh police charged Harrison with fleeing or attempting to elude officers in connection with the chase.
An examination of the cellphones showed multiple communications between Harrison and “Bub,” later identified as Lewis, the night before and morning of the murder, court documents read.
The investigation also showed multiple cellphone communications between Adams and Oliver the night before the shooting.
On Aug. 16, 2021, “Harrison’s cell phone GPS and Oliver’s cell phone move in unison from the Baldwin Borough area to the North Side of the City of Pittsburgh, specifically in the area of the victim’s address,” the complaint read.
Police said this is consistent with camera footage placing the maroon 2007 Chevy Malibu traveling on Shadeland Avenue, a short distance from Malden Street.
Harrison’s cell phone GPS and Oliver’s cell phone placed them both in the area of the victim’s address at about 11:30 p.m.
Police said Oliver arrived at the victim’s address in the Chevy with Lewis, and Harrison picking her up and dropping her off.
Police said Oliver made and received calls to Lewis from inside the victim’s residence around 5 a.m. the day of the shooting.
Harrison, Oliver, and Lewis’ cell phones are all determined to be in the area of Malden Street when investigators can place Oliver inside the victim’s residence, according to court documents.
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Police said Adams received a text from Oliver at 5:11 a.m., the minute the shooting occurred, with the message, “Omawgggh come gettttmeee” and a minute later another message from Oliver, “Running over the bridge.”
Police said when these texts were sent, Oliver would not have known the extent of Adams injuries and based on cell phone data is leaving the scene with at least Lewis and Harrison in the 2007 Chevy Malibu.
Court documents indicate a further analysis of cellphone records showed at least 17 calls were made between Oliver and Lewis between Aug. 13-17, 2021.