A jury has acquitted a Hill District man who faced homicide charges after opening fire during a 2022 shootout between rival gangs on the North Side that left three people dead.
Jaylone Hines, 25, was found not guilty last week on multiple homicide, attempted homicide and aggravated assault charges in the death of two innocent bystanders caught in the crossfire while at a Cedar Avenue bus stop.
The acquittal enraged the mother of victim Jacquelyn Mehalic, 33. The Homer City woman said Wednesday that Hines’ self-defense argument didn’t account for the consequences of his actions.
“The jurors didn’t see any value, they didn’t feel like (Jacquelyn’s) life was valuable enough to give somebody consequences for murdering her,” said Bridgette Mehalic, 59, who attended every day of the two-week trial. “I don’t understand how the jury came to that conclusion. I just don’t understand.”
Police say the Oct. 15, 2022, shooting precipitated additional violence between Pittsburgh gangs — the Brighton Place Crips and a hybrid group known as the Commons — including a shooting two weeks later outside the funeral for one of the homicide victims.
A second gunman charged in the shooting — Charron Troutman, 21, of Pittsburgh — was sentenced last year to at least eight years in state prison as part of a plea agreement. He also pleaded guilty to firearms charges and multiple counts of reckless endangerment.
In exchange, the Allegheny County District Attorney’s Office withdrew a count of attempted homicide.
The jury Friday acquitted Hines on seven charges, court records show. He was found guilty on two gun charges.
Hines’ sentencing date has not been set.
Mehalic told TribLive it was hard to sit through eight days of testimony and hundreds of exhibits regarding her daughter’s death.
Her voice cracked when she tried to describe watching body-worn camera footage of the officer who tried to save Jacquelyn, who left behind four children. The youngest was 11 months old when their mother was gunned down.
“(Hines) didn’t even get involuntary mansalughter,” Mehalic said. “He just got not guilty. We’re devastated.”
How the shooting unfolded
Troutman was the front-seat passenger in a Hyundai Tucson that traveled to the Sunoco gas station on Cedar Avenue — part of the Commons’ “territory” — that night around 9:36 p.m., prosecutors said.
Gunfire soon erupted — at least 27 shots, police said. Three people were killed — John Hornezes, Jr., 20, Hines’ friend — and two women: Mehalic and Betty J. Averytt, 59.
Attorney Adam Bishop, who represented Hines, said jurors believed his argument that Hines fired in self-defense.
“This carload of Crips, they went there (to the Sunoco) knowing that, if they were seen, it was going to set off alarms — and it did,” Bishop told TribLive Wednesday. “The Crips, they really spurred this violence. And Jaylone and his friends were defending themselves.”
Video surveillance showed that Troutman and a woman in the car entered the gas station on the night of the shooting, bought food and returned to their vehicle.
A short time later, a white Hyundai Palisade arrived, according to prosecutors and a criminal complaint in the case. Hines got out of the Palisade and approached the gas pumps where the Tucson was parked.
Troutman responded by pulling a gun from his waistband and showing it to Hines, police said.
Hines got back in the Palisade, left the gas station, ran a stop sign and drove to Allegheny Commons, prosecutors said during Troutman’s trial last year. There, he got out and spoke to a group gathered there.
Hines then ran back to the Sunoco, where he positioned himself two pumps away in a standoff with Troutman, prosecutors said.
About a minute later, Hines walked back to the park, prosecutors said. The Tucson left the Sunoco.
As the Tucson neared the park, gunfire erupted. Hornezes, who was with Hines, was killed. The two women at a nearby bus stop also were killed.
Troutman originally was charged with criminal homicide for Hornezes’ death, but that count was withdrawn in January 2023 when prosecutors learned that, given the trajectory of the shots, it would not have been possible for Troutman to have killed Hornezes.
Two weeks later, during funeral services for Hornezes, five people were shot outside the Destiny of Faith Church in the 3700 block of Brighton Road just after noon.
Police said at least 20 rounds were fired near the church by multiple shooters.
Hines ‘skated’
The Allegheny County District Attorney’s Office did not respond Wednesday to emails seeking comment. Mehalic’s father and Averytt’s daughter did not return phone calls or an email seeking comment.
Bishop, Hines’ attorney, said Friday’s acquittal ended “a complex case” with conflicting emotions.
“Two innocent women were killed,” he said. “We’re relieved with the verdict. But it’s tough, no matter how you look at it.”
Mehalic said she took no comfort in Troutman negotiating a plea deal with prosecutors.
“(Troutman) took that plea for lesser charges but he’s going to be in jail for at least eight years,” she said. “But Jaylone Hines skated.”