Uniontown man not guilty of homicide in teen’s 2022 killing
A Uniontown man accused of fatally shooting a teen in the city more than two years ago was acquitted of homicide and other charges Wednesday after his defense attorney said witnesses provided inconsistent information that offered a “false narrative” of the killing.
A Fayette County jury found Sean E. Crump not guilty on all 22 counts following a three-day trial this week in connection with the shooting death of 19-year-old Keonte “Keon” McCargo in Uniontown on Jan. 30, 2022.
Crump, now 21, was accused of shooting and killing McCargo, who was sitting with three others in a car stopped at Park Avenue and Liberty Street in Uniontown. Another shooting was reported less than an hour later when a house on nearby Connellsville Street was struck by gunfire, although no one was injured.
Witnesses at both scenes implicated Crump in the shooting, but defense attorney Kelvin Morris successfully argued to the jury that their testimony did not match initial statements they made to police identifying other people as the shooter.
“On the stand, I don’t think the jury believed the testimony of the key witnesses or police,” Morris said.
He said it was three days later when they spoke to police again and “created this false narrative that it was Sean Crump” who pulled the trigger in both shootings. Morris added that video of the witness interviews with Uniontown police showed the inconsistencies in their statements, which he thinks led to the acquittal.
“It’s the ability to have the video in the courtroom and have the jury see it for themselves,” Morris said. “Look at the video and do the right thing.”
Fayette County District Attorney Mike Aubele acknowledged that key witnesses were “inconsistent with what they saw and said,” which likely led to placing reasonable doubt in the minds of the jurors.
“It was just unfortunate that the witnesses just weren’t very good for us,” Aubele said. “Unfortunately, in these types of cases people aren’t very forthcoming with information and we don’t have forensic evidence or the murder weapon.”
He praised the work of assistant district attorneys Michelle Kelley and Tyler Schultz for prosecuting the case despite the acquittal.
“We respect the jury’s verdict,” Aubele said. “We’re disappointed with the outcome.”
In addition to the homicide acquittal, Crump also was found not guilty on all other charges, which included multiple counts of aggravated assault, reckless endangerment, prohibited possession of a firearm, discharging a firearm into an occupied structure, possession of a firearm, carrying a firearm without a license and criminal mischief.
The jury deliberated for about three hours before returning its verdict Wednesday night following the trial before Judge Linda Cordaro. Crump, who is still facing drug charges in three separate cases, was released from custody after the verdict was read.