HOMEWOOD, Pa. — A judge ordered a Homewood teen to stand trial on charges he fatally shot a man during a robbery on the East Busway earlier this month.
Jordan Bey, 16, is accused of shooting Omar Islam, 21, seven times in the head, back and leg on Oct. 8. Bey admitted to the shooting during a nine-minute videotaped interview with Pittsburgh homicide detectives Oct. 14.
“I want to say how sorry I am for what I put his family through and what I put my family through,” Bey said at the beginning of the recording, which was played during Bey's preliminary hearing in Pittsburgh Municipal Court Friday morning.
He went on to say that he, Desmond Young and another man he knows as Blue set out to rob someone that day and spotted Islam on the busway. He said he fired once after Young punched Islam.
“Desmond punched him and was beating him up on the bench. That’s when I got close and shot one time in his leg. He had thrown his phone, so I grabbed the phone. Desmond grabbed the bag and we started to walk away. He started to approach, I blacked out and I fired some more shots,” Bey said in the confession.
But Allegheny County Deputy District Attorney Ilan Zur said surveillance video of the shooting shows Islam being shot in the back as he tries to hobble away. Islam died from the gunshot wounds.
During the video confession, Bey said earlier in the evening, his friends concocted the plan on Facebook.
“So him and Desmond was going on the book, planning to look for missions, people to rob,” Bey said.
Bey said they waited at an ATM in Homewood, but when no one showed up, they went to the busway.
Zur said it was the first time a taped homicide confession was played at a preliminary hearing.
“You not only hear what he has to say, but you see his facial expressions,” Zur said. “You get an idea of what actually went on in the room.”
Police also arrested Young and charged him in connection with the incident. Investigators are still looking for the suspect known only as Blue and asked anyone who has information to call homicide detectives at 412-323-7161 or 911.
Bey faces a preliminary hearing next week.
Channel 11's news exchange partners at TribLIVE contributed to this report.