PITTSBURGH — A man accused of stabbing a woman to death and assaulting another woman in Downtown Pittsburgh has pleaded guilty.
James J. Wyatt, 28, of McKeesport pleaded guilty to third-degree murder and aggravated assault on Monday, court documents show.
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Wyatt was originally charged with criminal homicide, but the charge was changed. He also pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor offense of making repairs/selling offensive weapons.
Investigators say Wyatt stabbed Janice Purdue-Dance, 61, of Erie, in the neck at a bus stop on Sixth Avenue as she was speaking to a police officer who was checking in on her in August, 2019. She later died at a hospital. Police say Wyatt then went after a second woman who was walking nearby. He cut her face, but she made a full recovery.
According to court documents, Wyatt had been serving a three-year probation after pleading guilty to gun and drug charges and causing an accident involving death or personal injury in 2016 at the time of the murder.
A defense attorney argued Wyatt was mentally incompetent to stand trial, citing a diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia and depression.
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Court documents show Wyatt was scheduled for a mental health evaluation in December, 2025. His trial was scheduled to begin on Monday.
Wyatt is now scheduled to be sentenced on Jan. 25.
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