A Beltzhoover man accused of shooting a teenager last year in the middle of the afternoon in Downtown Pittsburgh was found not guilty on all counts on Monday.

Martel Hedge Jr., 22, alleged he was defending himself on Feb. 19, 2025, when he fired the single shot in the 400 block of Smithfield Street.

Hedge, who was charged with four counts of recklessly endangering and one count of aggravated assault, went to trial on Thursday before Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge Kevin G. Sasinoski.

A jury deliberated less than three hours before returning its verdict.

According to the criminal complaint, Hedge was walking in the area of Fifth Avenue and Smithfield Street just after 4 p.m. when he encountered a group of high school students waiting at a bus stop.

The students told police Hedge made comments to them, and they “jumped him,’” the complaint said.

At first, police said, Hedge fought with the teens, but he later pulled his gun and fired once. When police interviewed Hedge later, they noted he had injuries to his left eye and left hand.

Hedge, who is Black, told detectives that while he was waiting at the bus stop that afternoon, the teens were acting “rowdy,” chasing people, and one of them, a white male, kept using racial slurs.

Although Hedge said he, at first, moved away from them, he later confronted one of them, the complaint said.

“Hedge Jr. said the group then all ‘just got tough then,’ and started to question/harass him,” the complaint continued.

Two of them then asked Hedge “what he was going to do about it and prepared to fight,” police said.

Hedge told police when he realized a fight was imminent he moved his gun — which he had a permit to carry legally, his attorney said — from his front right jacket pocket to a holster so it wouldn’t fall during the fight.

He then put his hands up and began to fight, Hedge told them.

At first, he told police the fight involved only two of the teens, but then others jumped in.

“He said he used his weapon because he was being ‘jumped,’ and had to ‘get them off me,’” the complaint said.

Hedge told investigators he fired one shot, immediately dropped the gun and surrendered to police.

The criminal complaint said the teen who was shot was struck in the hip, and sustained injuries to his kidney and liver.

Hedge was charged on March 12, 2025, and released on unsecured bond a week later.

His defense attorney, Amber Owens, told the jury during closing arguments Monday that it was a clear case of self-defense.

The jury, she said, vindicated that position.

Owens questioned why the Allegheny County District Attorney’s Office filed charges in the first place.

“They slapped him first. They proceeded to jump him. It was three against one,” she said. “At what point is a license to carry valid if you can’t use it?”

A message left with the DA’s office late Monday was not immediately returned.