Probe continues in fatal shooting
State police and Fayette County District Attorney Nancy D. Vernon have yet to decide if they will file charges against the 17-year-old boy who fatally shot Joshua John Miner during a scuffle early Saturday. Vernon said Monday she planned to review Miner’s autopsy, witness statements and a toxicology report before conferring with police about whether charges are appropriate.
She confirmed that the 17-year-old, whose name has not been released, is the son of Jerome Zuzak, 39, the resident of the 1B Washington St. home in North Union Township where Miner was killed. According to police, the teen shot Miner as Miner allegedly beat Zuzak.
State police trooper James L. Garlick, the lead investigator in the case, said that Miner, 21, lived with the Zuzaks “on and off.”
“But according to what we have at this point, (Miner) was asked the leave. They locked the door so that he couldn’t come in,” Garlick said.
Miner left the home, according to police, but came back and kicked the door in. After that, Garlick said Miner started hitting Zuzak in the head, face and upper body. It was during that time, around 3:50 a.m., that Zuzak’s son shot Miner.
That bullet, according to deputy coroner Elsie Dvorchak, went through Miner’s right arm and into his side, where it likely nicked his aorta.
The results of toxicology tests, which will check for drugs and an alcohol level, are pending, Dvorchak said.
From what she’s seen of the case so far, Vernon said, “It was a bad situation, but I don’t see any culpability.”
She said she expected to have a decision about whether there would be charges filed by later this week.
Miner’s sister, Chrystie Staycer, said she and her family are struggling to come to grips with his death and are troubled by the circumstances surrounding it. She said that Miner lived with the Zuzak family for two months and helped around the house.
“It’s not like they didn’t know one another. They were good friends,” Staycer said of her brother and Zuzak.
There were no fights between the Zuzaks and her brother that she knew of, Staycer said.
“I’m sorry that my brother beat him up or whatever happened but that doesn’t mean what happened was right,” she said.
She also said her brother was distraught after the death of his fianc?e, 17-year-old Krystal Bobish, who was shot to death in April 2002 during a drug-related murder.
At the time, Staycer said Bobish was carrying Miner’s baby. The 28-week-old fetus died. Mark D. Edwards Jr. was later convicted of killed Bobish and her parents and attempting to kill her brother, and was sentenced to death by lethal injection earlier this year.
“After Krystal died, he really didn’t want to live anymore,” Staycer said of her brother. “So it’s a little bit of peace that he’s with her and the baby now.”
Meanwhile, Staycer said her mother is grieving the loss of “her baby,” who will be buried today. Miner also leaves behind a 1 1/2-year-old child.
Staycer said she is hopeful that police will be thorough in going through what she believes are questionable circumstances surrounding her brother’s death.