Shooting victim now unsure who pulled the trigger
A Connellsville man who was shot three times in Uniontown in May and previously identified the shooter to police and at a preliminary hearing, said at a hearing on Tuesday, he’s now not sure who shot him.
Tommy Tase Stargell Jr., 20, of Uniontown, faces charges of attempted homicide, two counts of aggravated assault, illegal possession of a firearm, two counts of simple assault and reckless endangerment for allegedly shooting 23-year-old Brandon Epps on May 14, striking his legs, hand and back.
Stargell was on the run for months before police caught him in Columbus, Ohio, on Aug. 31.
Stargell, represented by Assistant Public Defender Mary Campbell-Spegar, appeared before Fayette County President Judge John F. Wagner Jr. to present a petition to dismiss the case and suppress statements made to police.
Assistant District Attorney James Geibig called Epps to the stand and asked if he remembered walking along Austin Street near Esther’s Bar the day he was shot.
Epps testified he was with a couple of people, and an individual approached, coming within about 10 feet of him.
Geibig asked if Epps knew Stargell before the day of the shooting, and Epps said he did, and that he knew him as “Man Man”.
“Did this individual pull out a gun and shoot you?” Geibig asked.
“No,” Epps replied.
Geibig asked Epps if he remembered talking to Uniontown police Detective Donald Gmitter in the hospital and telling him it was Stargell who shot him.
“Well, not in so many words,” said Epps.
“Mr. Epps, do you know who shot you?” Wagner asked him.
“Your Honor, I can’t really say,” Epps replied. “Were there people in the vicinity? Yes. I can’t say that that man shot me.”
When Geibig showed Epps the statement he gave police at the hospital, he said he couldn’t remember making those remarks, since he was in so much pain at the time. He further testified that when he made another statement to police five days after the shooting, Gmitter suggested possible suspects to name.
On cross-examination, Campbell-Spegar asked Epps if the testimony he was giving was consistent with what he said at Stargell’s preliminary hearing.
Epps, who folded his arms on the witness stand, resting his chin on his arms and occasionally putting his head down, stated, “At that time, I believed it could have been him, but I’m not sure.”
When Gmitter was called to the stand, he testified that Epps’ assertions that police may have led him to say it was Stargell were false.
“I did not in any way introduce names to Mr. Epps,” Gmitter told the court. “I asked who shot him and he said Tommy Stargell.”
Gmitter stated Epps named Stargell three times — twice in police statements and once at the preliminary hearing — and never once was he coached to do so.
After testimony was closed, Geibig argued the prior inconsistent statements Epps made should still be admissible at trial, because he signed the verbatim statement made to police and adopted it when he named Stargell again at the preliminary hearing.
Wagner said he would take the matter under consideration and issue a ruling as soon as possible, being mindful that Stargell is incarcerated while awaiting trial.