Oct 11, 2025 By Mike Jones 5 min read

The defense for Kristopher Moorehouse claims he acted in self-defense when he shot and killed a friend who made unwanted advances to the defendant’s girlfriend at a house party in Canonsburg last month, even going as far as invoking the Castle Doctrine that allows for lethal force against intruders.

Moorehouse, 20, is accused of fatally shooting Brady Hugh Paul during the Sept. 6 gathering at 521 Giffin Ave. in the borough after the two men got into an altercation and Paul was asked to leave the party, only for him to return minutes later and they began fighting again.

During testimony at Moorehouse’s preliminary hearing Friday morning in Washington County Central Court, witnesses explained the events that led to the shooting in which Paul died at the scene.

Deangelo Perkins, who lives at the Giffin Avenue house where the gathering was held, testified he and a group of friends were “chilling, hanging out, partying” when Paul began making erratic comments, including a request to have sexual relations with Moorehouse’s girlfriend.

“They were arguing,” Perkins said. “Brady said some weird (stuff). He asked to (expletive) his (girlfriend).”

The girlfriend, Gianna Abajace, testified that Paul made a video call to Moorehouse while they were both in the house asking if he could be involved in sexual relations in their bedroom.

“He was saying a bunch of crazy stuff,” Abajace said. “He kept asking to come into the backroom and (expletive) me. Kris said no, and I said no. But Brady kept pushing it.”

Moorehouse and Paul then got into a confrontation in the kitchen that spilled into the living room, Perkins said. Moorehouse then brandished a black revolver and pointed it in the “general direction” of Paul, but Perkins said he stepped in between them, although he claimed in his testimony that the gun was not operable. Perkins said Paul’s behavior was so concerning that he told him to leave the party, which he did.

“If you want to fight, fight later,” Perkins recalled telling Paul. “Come back tomorrow.”

About five minutes later, Perkins said he heard “tussling” in the living room and made a turn from the stairwell and saw Paul on top of Moorehouse – who was on a chair in the living room – trying to punch him.

“I go to make a turn and ‘Bang!’ It was a split second,” Perkins said.

Perkins said two more shots were fired and Moorehouse left the house as Paul, 25, lay in the living room “clutching” his chest before making it to the home’s front porch, where he died.

Perkins identified a .40-caliber pistol – a different gun than the inoperable revolver – as the weapon used in the shooting, although he did not see Moorehouse holding it. Perkins and other people left the house in a car and saw Moorehouse walking on the street. Moorehouse tried to get into the car for a ride, but Perkins said he refused to let him in because of what had just occurred in his house.

“You just disrespected my crib. You just shot someone in my crib,” Perkins recalled telling Moorehouse.

Abajace did not witness the shooting while in the back room, but testified she heard three gunshots. She eventually left the house and later agreed to drive Moorehouse to a cousin’s home in Parkersburg, W.Va. She said it was mostly a “quiet ride” and she was still unclear what had occurred the night before until her boyfriend allegedly confessed.

“That’s when he said he shot Brady,” Abajace testified. “But he said it was in self-defense.”

Moorehouse turned himself into Canonsburg police two days after the shooting, and willingly spoke to Sgt. Anthony Cancilla about the incident.

“He said he was defending himself, and then he shot Mr. Paul,” Cancilla testified.

However, Deputy District Attorney John Friedmann questioned Perkins whether Paul had anything that could be construed as a weapon in his hands, which Perkins said he did not.

In asking for bond for his client, defense attorney Jacob Mihalov suggested his insistence that he acted in self-defense should allow for some bail. Whether Moorehouse had a bedroom at the Giffin Avenue house and kept some of his clothes there – as Abajace testified to – could also be key to invoking the Castle Doctrine defense over the amount of time he spent at the home and considered it a second residence. Moorehouse and Abajace have a permanent address elsewhere in Canonsburg, but they periodically stayed at the Giffin Avenue residence, she said.

However, Friedmann said Moorehouse should be denied bond because the self-defense claim would mean there was some premeditation to the shooting, which could carry with it a first-degree murder conviction. District Judge James Saieva Jr. agreed and denied bond for Moorehouse while ordering him to stand trial on felony charges of homicide and aggravated assault, along with four misdemeanor counts of reckless endangerment.

The preliminary hearing had to be paused momentarily in the middle when Moorehouse – who was shackled and wearing an orange prison jumpsuit – keeled over the defense table after he appeared to become overwhelmed by the testimony and crime scene photographs.

“I’m sorry, your honor. Can we take a break?” Mihalov said while looking over to his client. “This is pretty traumatic.”

Sheriff’s deputies escorted Moorehouse out of the courtroom and allowed him to speak briefly with Mihalov. Deputies returned him to the courtroom about five minutes later and the hearing resumed.