Pennsylvania

Trial for 2 in Ambush Killings of 5, Unborn Child at Pennsylvania Cookout

Two men are heading to trial on charges they ambushed a suburban Pittsburgh cookout and killed five adults and an unborn child.

A judge ruled on Friday there was sufficient evidence for the case to proceed against Cheron Shelton and Robert Thomas, who are facing criminal homicide and other charges in the March 9 shooting in Wilkinsburg.

Allegheny County prosecutors say Thomas fired a handgun so the guests would run for cover toward a home, where they were gunned down on a porch by Shelton, who fired an assault rifle from close range. [[238427591, C]]

Authorities say the men were trying to kill a cookout guest they believed had killed Shelton's friend in 2013. Nobody has been charged in that killing, and the target of the ambush shooting survived.

Defense attorneys say the men are innocent.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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