Man charged with homicide in Bierer Wood Acres shooting
Alyssa Choiniere | Herald-Standard
Antonio T. Lanko, 31, of Uniontown was taken into custody at Bierer Wood Acres Friday afternoon in the shooting death of 37-year-old Tasha Walton.
Multiple state police units, Uniontown police and Fayette EMS rushed to the scene of a shooting at Bierer Wood Acres at 1 p.m. Friday. Police said 37-year-old Tasha Walton died on the scene. A man is in custody but he has not been charged.
Alyssa Choiniere | Herald-Standard
Alyssa Choiniere | Herald-Standard In this file photo, family members collapse to the ground after receiving word that Tasha Walton, 37, died from her gunshot injuries at Bierer Wood Acres in South Union Township Nov. 3. Antonio Lanko, 32, of Uniontown is awaiting trial in the homicide case.
Alyssa Choiniere | Herald-Standard
A silver Jeep Grand Cherokee was identified as the location where Tasha Walton, 37, of Uniontown, was shot outside Bierer Wood Acres in South Union Township at about 1 p.m. Friday. Shoes and other clothing items were strewn along both sides of the SUV.
Lanko
A man who was charged in a fatal shooting at Bierer Wood Acres Friday afternoon carried the woman to a nearby apartment after allegedly shooting her, state police said.
Antonio Trevelle Lanko, 31, of Uniontown was charged with homicide in the death of Tasha Walton, 37, of Uniontown.
The two arrived at the South Union Township housing project together Friday afternoon, according to state police.
“For unknown reasons, Lanko was in possession of a semi-automatic handgun which deployed and struck Walton,” state police said in a release.
He then carried her to 86 MacArthur Terrace, where she died.
Multiple witnesses told police one gunshot was heard in the area.
Lanko and Walton were acquaintances, according to state police Trooper Robert Broadwater. He said police are unsure if the shooting was accidental.
Lanko cried as he was taken into custody at about 1:10 p.m., telling one of the victim’s family members he didn’t know what happened.
Walton’s family arrived throughout the afternoon, wailing and screaming when they learned Walton had died. Some arrived before her condition was clear.
“I just want to know what happened to my mama,” a young woman screamed, falling to her knees on the pavement. “That’s my best friend. That’s my everything.”
A woman put her hands on the younger woman’s shoulders.
“We gotta pray, baby,” she said.
A two-building section of the complex was cordoned off for four hours, while police were concentrated at the rear building. Police questioned several people in two of the apartments, one with a “Love” banner across the window.
Police placed tarps on the ground next to Walton’s silver sport-utility vehicle. Shoes and other clothing items were strewn along both sides of the SUV.
The woman lived in a nearby apartment complex in the city.
Crowds gathered throughout Bierer Wood Acres as devastated family members comforted one another. Neighbors rushed to bring chairs for the two women, as another neighbor wrapped the older woman in a blanket.
This is the second time Lanko was charged with criminal homicide.
The first was in 2001 when Lanko, weeks after he turned 16, took part in a botched robbery at an apartment in the former Lemon Wood Acres housing project in North Union Township. One of the men participating in the robbery, Charles Lendell, was shot and killed by an occupant of the home. That shooting was ruled self-defense, but prosecutors charged Lanko and David Sims, 49, of Uniontown in Lendell’s death because the robbery led to his death.
Four months after he was charged as an adult, prosecutors dropped the homicide charge against Lanko, who was also shot during the botched robbery.
In 2003, he pleaded guilty to robbery, and was sentenced to 1 year, 10 months to 4 years behind bars.
Sims pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter in the case and was sentenced to serve 2½ to 5 years in prison.
In the Friday shooting, in addition to criminal homicide charges, Lanko also faces counts of receiving stolen property, carrying a firearm without a license, prohibited possession of a firearm and tampering with evidence.
He was denied bail, and committed to the Fayette County Prison, and faces a Nov 13. preliminary hearing.