18-year-old arrested in East Hills shooting that killed Allderdice graduate

PITTSBURGH — An 18-year-old has been arrested in a shooting that killed a recent Allderdice graduate.

A Pittsburgh Public Safety spokesperson says that Ronald Stanford, 18, was arrested on a warrant for the shooting death of Tristan Taylor.

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Taylor was shot and killed in the East Hills at the end of June, less than three weeks after he graduated high school. He was killed while leaving a balloon release for his cousin, who was shot and killed in the East Hills eight years ago.

Jokima Brown, Taylor’s mom, reacted to the arrest in a post on Facebook.

“Justice WILL be served!!! Tristan Mommy told you as they were closing your casket that I would NEVER stop seeking justice for you!!! I owed you that and I will see this through to the very end,” her post said in part.

Brown previously told Channel 11 that her family walked by a group of kids who began taunting Tristan and other members of her family before the shooting.

The criminal complaint filed against Stanford reflects Brown’s statement. The document says Stanford and three friends had a brief interaction with Taylor’s family while they were walking to the balloon release.

Then, while Taylor’s family was walking back, the two groups got into a “verbal altercation,” and Stanford repeatedly tried to approach Taylor, seemingly trying to fight, but Taylor’s family kept getting in between them and try to walk away from the situation.

Then, the complaint says Stanford shot at Taylor and his family from a distance and ran away from the scene. An autopsy shows Taylor was shot four times.

Police say Stanford is facing charges of criminal homicide, firearms not to be carried without a license and four counts of recklessly endangering another person.

Stanford being held at the Allegheny County Jail without bond.

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