Trial Postponed For Man Accused Of Raping Underage Girl, Killing Ex-Girlfriend
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PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- Matthew Darby, the man accused of raping an underage girl and killing his ex-girlfriend Alina Sheykhet was scheduled to have a hearing on the rape case on December 13, 2017. The rape case was continued until January 26, 2018.
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Sheykhet's family was there at Pittsburgh Municipal Court. They wanted to show their support for the other alleged victim and they were hoping to see Darby for the first time.
Darby is behind bars. He is facing multiple criminal charges in four separate cases. He is
accused of raping an ex-girlfriend in Indiana County. In Allegheny County, he is accused of first trespassing into Sheykhet's home and then accused of bludgeoning her to death on a later date. Darby is also accused of raping an underage girl from Elizabeth.
Darby's attorney, David Shrager, postponed the Elizabeth rape case. "The case has been moved between Magistrates a couple of times. We've decided to postpone that for additional time to prepare," said Shrager.
Police said the rape happened days before Sheykhet's murder. The Sheykhet family stayed out of view of our cameras. Their family attorney, Albert Veverka, shared their sentiments. "Today is obviously about the victim in that case, not about Alina but they wanted to be here to support that victim. They want to be here to support this process as it moves forward and to hopefully get a look at Matthew Darby," said Veverka.
On a positive note, the family is elated that recently the Pennsylvania Senate unanimously passed "Alina's Law." It would allow for GPS monitoring of defendants in PFA cases who pose a "significant risk" to the victim. "It would allow the victim to wear some type of bracelet or monitor and the defendant as well. If they come into close proximity an alert would go out and somebody in probation or pretrial services would be monitoring that and could alert the police," said Veverka. Sheykhet had a PFA against Darby at the time she was killed.
