Man Accused In East Liberty Target Stabbing Held For Trial
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- The man accused of stabbing shoppers, including a 16-year-old girl, at the Target store in East Liberty last year was held for trial during a preliminary hearing today.
Two additional charges of simple assault and attempted homicide were also tacked on to the list of counts the suspect, Leon Walls, is already facing.
He's accused of stabbing three people at the store in March of 2013.
The most seriously injured victim was 16-year-old Allison Meadows of Tennessee, who suffered a collapsed lung after the attack.
Walls appeared in court this morning wearing a red, jail-issued jumpsuit.
At times, he looked at the witnesses, but most of the time he stared away, often shaking.
Several witnesses took the stand to testify.
One of those witnesses, Mike Turner is credited with subduing Walls inside of the store. Turner described seeing Meadows being dragged through the store and being stabbed.
Meadows herself did not testify, but her mother did. She described for the court seeing her daughter being stabbed.
Mike Turner was there when the stabbing happened. He was injured trying to help Meadows.
"He (Walls) changed a lot of lives," he said. "He changed mine. I don't think I'll ever be the same."
Turner testified he saw Walls on the street before he entered the store and he had an unusual look in his eyes, even then. A different look than he saw in court Tuesday.
"He had a lot of rage in him," Turner said. "He just looks like, don't know what's going on, if you ask me."
Meadows' mother also testified Tuesday. She described hearing some commotion in the store and seeing someone with a baseball bat, then a man with a knife. She told the court she pleaded with Walls to let her daughter go, then she said, "I just saw him stab her."
Walls is headed to trial on all charges.
RELATED LINKS:
Preliminary Hearing Postponed For Target Stabbing Suspect (4/4/13)
More Reports on the Target Stabbing
More Reports by Lynne Hayes-Freeland
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