Uniontown man held for court in woman’s shooting death
A Uniontown man will stand trial in the alleged shooting death of a woman at his city apartment.
At a preliminary hearing on Tuesday, police testified Danny Richard Sottile Jr., 45, of 40 Iowa St. told them he believed that Tiffany Raymer, 39, of Uniontown was setting him up to be robbed or killed when he shot her on June 9.
Uniontown City Police Officer Jeremy Schult testified he encountered Sottile at a gas station on West Fayette Street about 6 a.m. that morning after an employee called 911 because Sottile was walking around the store without shoes on and had a gun visible in his waistband.
Sottile’s attorney, Brent Peck, asked if his client was doing anything illegal when Schult approached him. Schult testified Sottile was not, prompting Peck to ask whether Sottile was free to walk away from the officer as he asked him questions in the gas station’s store.
“At what point was he not free to leave?” Peck asked.
“When he told us he shot someone,” Schult testified.
Police testified they took the 9 mm pistol Sottile had on him, and found the magazine had been ejected before responding to the Iowa Street home where Raymer was found with a fatal gunshot to her chest. Uniontown City Police Officer Jamie Holland testified a magazine believed to be from the 9 mm gun was found outside the building.
During an interview at the police station, Holland testified, Sottile said he only knew Raymer’s first name, and told police they were together for several hours, taking photos, making online postings, eating, and smoking methamphetamine throughout the night.
Holland testified Sottile told him that he and Raymer were lying in bed when Sottile heard something outside and got paranoid, walking out into the apartment to investigate with his gun. Sottile reportedly told police he believed people were coming to the apartment to rob him or kill him, and believed Raymer was setting him up.
Sottile said he asked Raymer why she was setting him up, and then shot her in the chest, Holland testified. When she got up and ran out the door into an open loft area, Sottile reportedly told police he fired a second shot.
Holland said Sottile told him that he went to the garage area of the building and tried to shoot himself in the head, but found there was no ammunition left, so he ejected the magazine.
“At that point, Mr. Sottile said he did not feel safe there,” Holland testified. “He said he never went back up to check on the victim to see if she were alive or not, and he started walking around town because he did not feel safe in his apartment.”
Holland testified there were no drugs found at the apartment, but indicated the state police forensic unit found drug paraphernalia there that was used to smoke meth.
District Judge Jason Cox held charges of criminal homicide, aggravated assault, simple assault and recklessly endangering another person for trial. While Peck made a motion to set bail in the case, Assistant District Attorney Melinda Dellarose argued the seriousness of the charges would make doing so inappropriate.
Cox denied Peck’s motion, and Sottile remains lodged in the Fayette County Prison without bond. He will be arraigned in Fayette County Common Pleas Court before President Judge Steve Leskinen at 9:30 a.m. Oct. 19.