Charges held against Clancy in stabbing incident
A Pittsburgh woman accused of using a utility knife to stab and cut three women outside a bar in Uniontown early Friday will have her day in court. Uniontown Police Sgt. Jonathan Grabiak said Paris Lanay Clancy, 20, of 1037 Cresswell St. was charged Friday morning before Magisterial District Judge Ronald J. Haggerty Sr. with aggravated assault, simple assault, harassment and underage drinking following the incident.
Following a tumultuous preliminary hearing Tuesday afternoon, Senior Magisterial District Judge Michael Rubish held all charges against Clancy for Fayette County Court.
Grabiak told Assistant District Attorney Jack R. Heneks Jr. that the incident occurred as he was on routine patrol on North Gallatin Avenue shortly after 1 a.m.
He testified that he saw a group of people standing outside a bar and in the street.
As he got closer, Grabiak testified he realized that the group was engaged in a fight and he immediately radioed for backup from other city officers and the state police.
According to the criminal complaint filed in the case, Grabiak then spotted three women – Rhayshar M. Fitzgerald, Lasheka M. Harris and Raechelle L. Bryant, all of Uniontown – with multiple injuries.
Grabiak testified that Harris was soaked in blood, Fitzgerald had a laceration across her chest and Bryant had a deep laceration to her face.
All three women were taken by ambulance to Uniontown Hospital.
The women testified Tuesday about the fight and the injuries they received.
Fitzgerald said the fight was over Broderick Harris of Uniontown, who is the father of Clancy’s child. She testified that prior to the incident, Clancy had spoken with her by phone on multiple occasions and threatened her because Fitzgerald had been talking with Broderick Harris.
Fitzgerald said Clancy made it clear why she was cutting her when the altercation occurred.
“She came at me and said, ‘I’m Broderick’s baby’s mama. I’m his wife.’ Then she cut me,” Fitzgerald told the court, the red laceration clearly visible on her upper chest. “The problem was that I was talking to Broderick and she’s his baby’s mom and she didn’t like it.”
She testified that the knife wound extended from her neck to her belly button.
Bryant testified that the laceration to her face was severe and she had to be taken to UPMC-Presbyterian hospital in Pittsburgh for plastic surgery.
Lasheka Harris testified that she had 10 staples in her head to close the puncture wound caused by Clancy.
Grabiak testified that while he was trying to assess the scene, he discovered a box cutter lying on the sidewalk.
Through his investigation, Grabiak testified that he identified Clancy as the suspect in the incident and said that officers were dispatched from the scene to another disturbance on Kerr Street where Clancy was discovered and taken into custody.
Public defender Mary Campbell Spegar called two witnesses to testify during the hearing.
John Jones of Uniontown, who testified that he is Broderick Harris’ father, told the court that the attacker was not Clancy but a relative, although he could not name her.
Shedrieka Maddox of Uniontown testified that while she was not sure if Clancy used the knife on the women, she also spotted a woman named “Marquia” involved in the fracas who also might have used the box cutter.
Grabiak testified that following the fight he attempted to have Clancy sign a Miranda warning but she refused and told police that she had been eating in a Uniontown bar. She declined to talk further with investigators.
During the two-hour hearing, six Uniontown police officers provided security in the courtroom as threats of violence were reported prior to the proceedings, police said. While there were some minor disruptions during the hearing, no serious incidents occurred.
Clancy remains in the Fayette County Prison on $100,000 straight cash bond after a motion for a bond reduction by Spegar was denied.