Vandergrift Man Found Guilty In Shooting Death Of Tattoo Shop Owner
GREENSBURG (KDKA) -- A jury in Westmoreland County has convicted a Vandergrift man in the 2015 fatal shooting of a New Kensington tattoo shop owner.
The jury deliberated for about seven hours before finding 45-year-old Christopher Patterson of Vandergrift guilty of third-degree murder.
The victim, tattoo shop owner Kevin Croney, 43, was shot and killed in March of 2015.
The two friends argued over money and got into a fight outside the tattoo parlor. Police said Croney was shot by Patterson at point-blank range with a .38-caliber pistol.
Ben Fitzgerald-Fye, whose sister was married to Croney, told KDKA-TV's Ralph Iannotti after the verdict, "It's the best we could hope for, and I believe justice has prevailed."
"Time heals to some degree, but there are still three children with no father, and there's a widow," Fitzgerald-Fye said. "A family and a community still broken; it'll take a long time to begin the healing process."
Join The Conversation On The KDKA Facebook Page
Stay Up To Date, Follow KDKA On Twitter
Defense Attorney Patrick Thomassey, said he was disappointed in the verdict.
"I really thought this was a case of self-defense," Thomassey said. "I thought there should have been an acquittal."
Patterson was returned to the Westmoreland County Prison after the week-old trial ended.
No sentencing date was set by the judge. He now faces a maximum 20 to 40 years in prison.
