Deadly beating of Allegheny County Jail inmate was an act of revenge, police say

Court paperwork has revealed details of what investigators said happened inside the jail cell of an Allegheny County inmate who was allegedly beaten to death by eight other men last month.

According to investigators with the Allegheny County Police Department, 44-year-old Tyrone Good was moved from solitary confinement at the jail into a general population pod just 20 minutes before he was beaten to death on May 13. Eight men have been charged in connection with the death of Good, who police said was attacked inside his cell at the jail. Good was taken to UPCM Mercy Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Kendall McKoy, Justin Allen, Delvonte Woodson, Jerrell Rockymore, Mark Beavers, Tavarius Lee, Shawn Davis, and Anthony Schmitt are all facing charges of criminal homicide, criminal conspiracy, and tampering with evidence. 

Police detail motive for killing

Investigators detailed what they say surveillance video showed took place inside the jail before and after the deadly attack on Good, who was being held in the jail on homicide charges in connection with the death of his girlfriend, Michelle Sturdivant. Investigators said the deadly jail cell attack was retribution for Good's alleged involvement in Sturdivant's death. 

Investigators said that the attack on Good took place in cell 116 within Pod 4D of the jail. According to the police investigation, Good had arrived on Pod 4D just 20 minutes earlier, having previously been held in a Restrictive Housing Unit after being arrested in Atlanta, Georgia and extradited to Pittsburgh.

Investigators said that Good's cellmate left for lunch at 12:43 p.m. and left the cell door partially open. 

One minute later, police said that McKoy, Allen, Woodson, Rockymore, Beavers, and Lee all entered Good's cell while Davis and Schmitt could be seen standing near the cell while the attack began. Davis and Schmitt, according to police, entered the cell and closed the door behind them minutes later.

Approximately five minutes later, at 12:50 p.m., all eight individuals left the cell and returned to different areas of Pod 4D, police said.

Just before 1 p.m., Good emerged from his cell, police said, noting that he was covered in blood, as he staggered to a correction officer's desk and collapsed before he was taken to the hospital.

According to investigators, Good's cell had blood on the floor, walls, toilet area, and sink. An autopsy of Good, according to investigators, revealed that he had been stabbed multiple times, but that severe blunt force trauma to the head was his cause of death.

Investigators said that the men charged in the attack made attempts to get rid of their clothing that had become soaked with blood and that officers found shoes, shirts, socks, and jail-issued clothing hidden and in a garbage bag. 

In a statement, Casey White, the attorney who was representing Good in his homicide case, said that the charges filed against the eight men are "an important step towards answers" for Good's death. 

"We appreciate the work of law enforcement and the prosecutors who conducted this investigation," White said. "His family will continue to grieve this tragic and preventable loss, but look forward to seeing these individuals held accountable in our justice system."

Bethany Hallam, a member of the Allegheny County Jail Oversight Board, said surveillance video showed one correctional officer assigned to the pod during the attack. She says that's the norm, but thinks there should be two officers assigned, as was the standard years ago.  

Short staffing dropped it down to one over the years, she said. She added that the eight suspects are being held in a restrictive housing unit.

Several suspects charged in violent crimes

Among the eight suspects charged in connection with the killing of Good, several of the individuals were already facing homicide charges or other violent crime charges in criminal cases within the Pittsburgh area.

McKoy, 24, who police said was the driver of the jail attack, was previously charged in connection with the deadly 2021 shooting of an Uber driver in Pittsburgh's Sheraden neighborhood.

Allen, 25, was charged with attempted homicide in 2022 after a woman was shot outside of a Pittsburgh nightclub.

Woodson, 20, was charged with shooting at police officers in McKees Rocks in 2024. He was 17 at the time and was charged as an adult. 

Rockymore, 18, was arrested in 2023 and charged with shooting and killing a teenage boy in Pittsburgh's Allentown neighborhood.

Lee, 20, was charged in 2021 with shooting and killing a Sto-Rox High School student. He was 15 at the time and was charged as an adult. 

Davis, 23, was one of two individuals charged in the shooting outside of a funeral in Pittsburgh's Brighton Heights neighborhood in 2022 that sent six people to the hospital. 

Beavers, 27, is awaiting trial on assault and firearms charges out of McKees Rocks, according to court records. Beavers was also indicted by a grand jury late last year for violating federal firearms laws.