Family pleads for answers in teen's shooting death, but police say witnesses won't talk
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - It's become an almost nightly story in our newscasts: another shooting in an increasingly violent time in our region.
It's a spike in gun violence we've not seen in decades and the victims are getting younger and younger. Last year, 28 teenagers were killed in Allegheny County and 11 so far this year. Many of the cases have gone unsolved due to a lack of cooperating witnesses.
Now, in part two of the KDKA Investigates series Our Kids Are Dying, we focus on the heartbreak so many families face, like the relatives of Steven Eason. He would've turned 16 this month, but he died last fall at age 15.
"I'm never going to see my son's driver's license or go to his first dances. The pain is unimaginable," said Eason's mother Shantel Pizaro.
Eason was shot and killed at a hayride event while trying to stand up for a friend.
"Steven was a great kid. He was joyful and full of jokes. He could light up a room," Pizaro said.
The loss of this popular and promising Central Catholic High School student left his school grief-stricken and awakened the greater community to the terrible toll of youth gun violence, which has claimed the lives of dozens of teenagers in our region over the past two years.
For his family, the pain is made even greater by the fact that his murder remains unsolved and his killer is still free.
"There are times when I'm paralyzed with grief and to know that this person is still out there walking, talking, living their life, breathing and Steven isn't. It's really unfair," said Eason's grandmother Shelline Pizaro-Williams.
As in many homicides, there's been no arrest in Eason's murder because of a lack of cooperating witnesses.
At the time of the shooting, there were about 50 people in the near vicinity but none, including the boy he saved, have stepped forward to identify the shooter.
"It is difficult. Our detectives struggle with that. We've reached out to the community trying to get information from the many, many people who were there when Steven was killed," said Allegheny County Police Assistant Superintendent Victor Joseph.
"I know someone had to see something. And if you have any type of conscience, just step up. Give the police the information you have. We need closure," Pizaro-Williams said.
Last year, the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police made arrests in, or otherwise cleared, 55 percent of its cases. So far this year, only 26 percent have been cleared and most remain unsolved, including the two recent deaths at the Airbnb and the fatal shooting in January of 15-year-old Marquis Campbell outside Oliver Citywide Academy.
While police are still hopeful of making arrests in those cases, more and more police rely on surveillance cameras and cell phone video to solve crimes but cases where none is available go unprosecuted.
Street outreach coordinator Richard Garland says witnesses don't feel safe and believe police can't protect them.
Sheehan: "If you need a witness, no one's going to testify?"
Garland: "No. That's the code. That's the code. Until it happens to them."
But to stop the violence, police and families say this must change.
"Our detectives work hard. They're very talented. But they're only one piece. We need the community, we need the community's help. If it's just us by ourselves, we're going to fail," Joseph said.
And the Eason family is begging people to do the right thing, not just for their family, but for all families.
"If it was you, you would want someone to stand up for your child. You would want someone to come forward and get justice for your child in your time of need," said Pizaro.
So what are the solutions to ending this surge of youth gun violence? Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey calls gun violence a public health crisis and is demanding a public health response. What does that mean? And can it work? We'll investigate that when our series continues Friday night on KDKA News at 6 p.m.
For part one of the series, click here.
