Man Accused In Northview Heights Murder Headed To Trial

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) – A man accused of gunning down another man in Northview Heights last year is headed to trial.

Sam Mitchell was held for court at a hearing Friday. Mitchell is accused in the shooting death of Michael Wilson.

During the hearing, surveillance video from May of 2014 was shown.

In the video, the victim is seen standing among a group of people to the left of the screen and someone wearing white pants approaches from the right of the screen. They exchange words, and shortly thereafter, Wilson is shot and collapses. The crowd then scatters.

Wilson eventually gets up, tells someone he's been hit, and then collapses again. Wilson died of three gunshot wounds to the trunk and left arm.

Police asked us not to identify the inmate who testified at Friday's hearing because of concerns about his safety.

He testified about an incident when he and the defendant were inmates. According to his testimony, when they were in nearby shower stalls, Mitchell told him he was looking for someone who had a price on his head, meaning he'd get money for shooting him.

The inmate went on to testify that Mitchell was told Wilson was who he was looking for, but shot Wilson by mistake, and later learned Wilson wasn't the intended target.

According to the inmate's testimony, when police confronted Mitchell with the surveillance video, he told the inmate, "I know it's me, but they don't know it's me, and they won't get anyone to testify against me."

Mitchell's defense attorney thinks the video doesn't prove Mitchell is the gunman and doesn't think the witness is credible.

"Well, I thought it was a joke," said defense attorney Blaine Jones. "My client does not know this guy. This guy is in, obviously, on some very serious charges. He's not coming forward out of the goodness of his heart. He's coming forward because he wants to lessen the hit against him."

But the victim's family was relieved when District Judge Robert Dzvonick ruled that the total evidence indicated to him there was enough to hold the case for trial.

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