Police: New Castle Man Confesses To Killing Mom And Landlord, Injuring Another Neighbor
NEW CASTLE, Pa. (KDKA) -- Tragedy in a New Castle neighborhood after two neighbors were murdered and another is in the hospital.
"You watch 'SWAT' on TV and you never think it's going to happen in your neighborhood. And last night, they were everywhere," said Marlene DeCristoforo on Thursday.
DeCristoforo told KDKA the Dewey Avenue neighborhood of New Castle is like family.
"Everybody grows up here, then you just buy the house next door," DeCristoforo said.
New Castle police took over the streets Wednesday after several 911 calls to respond to 1019 Dewey Ave.
"When our officers got up there, we found the first victim with gunshot wounds to the chest," said New Castle Police Chief Robert Salem.
Court documents state the suspect, Louis Vincent Esposito, shot Kevin Ross two times at close range with a shotgun. Ross told police Esposito began "laughing like he was crazy."
Ross is in the hospital, where neighbors are pulling for a full recovery.
"I think he had like 20 different people in the neighborhood where he would just help cut grass when they couldn't. He just loved everybody. He said, 'Hi' to everybody. He'd smile at everybody," Salem said.
Police did a full search that night, eventually arresting Esposito in the duplex's basement.
"During that search, we found the shooter's mother deceased in her residence. And in the adjoining residence, we found another victim deceased in his house," Salem said.
The coroner has yet to determine a cause of death for Esposito's mother and the landlord, John Micco Jr. Court documents show Esposito told police that his mom was beaten and stabbed.
Salem told KDKA Esposito did admit to the two deaths and shooting Ross before attempting to escape the police station.
"He smacked the fire alarm and tried to run out the door and at which point he was tackled," Salem said.
Esposito was denied bail on Thursday and is charged with two counts of homicide, attempted homicide and escape. His next court date is May 25.