Juvenile Found Unresponsive At Group Home, 2 Arrested

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) – Two teens were arrested and accused of severely beating another teen at a group home.

Police were called to the Circle C Group Home on Carrick Avenue around 10:30 p.m. Saturday.

16-year-old Malik Crosby and 15-year-old Yusuf Shepard were both arrested and both face aggravated assault, criminal attempt and criminal conspiracy charges.

According to the criminal complaint, the victim returned to the group home on Saturday, after being placed elsewhere due to a previous verbal altercation with Shepard.

"A situation like this is really horrific that a child could be injured in a group home," Marc Cherna, the Director of the Allegheny County Department of Human Services said.

Marc Cherna says the Allegheny County Department of Human Services contracts out these group homes. Most of the teens are there for six months to a year, unable to be with their families for various reasons. Right now, it is unclear why the fight happened.

Following another argument, police say Crosby and Shepard attacked the victim, punching and kicking him. The victim threw a vacuum cleaner at the boys as he tried to protect himself.  He was then put into a choke hold and struck repeatedly with the vacuum cleaner in the stomach and ribs.

An employee at the group home called 911.

Officers found the victim unresponsive and "turning blue around his lips, forehead and fingertips." They administered CPR until paramedics arrived. The victim regained a pulse and was taken to UPMC Mercy. He is in critical condition.

"We are certainly going to see what happened at this agency to see what the staffing pattern was, if there are things they could have red flagged to prevent it, or was it just a spontaneous thing that they had no way of knowing it was going to occur," Cherna said.

Pittsburgh Police homicide detectives are handling the investigation.

Both Crosby and Shepard are behind bars at the Allegheny County Jail.

Their preliminary hearings are scheduled for Friday.

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