What to Know
- Lehigh County District Attorney Jim Martin says the first two homicides of the year in Allentown are both believed to have been self-defense during attempted robberies.
- On Jan. 18, a man broke into a home and attacked the juvenile with a metal cane during what authorities called an attempted home invasion. The two fought, and the juvenile stabbed the man during the struggle.
- On Thursday night, a masked man robbed a beverage distributor at gunpoint and then went next door to hold up the pizza shop. The owner of the first business confronted him there and shot him, prosecutors said.
A prosecutor says the first two homicides of the year in the Lehigh Valley city of Allentown, Pennsylvania, which happened within days of each other, are both believed to have been in self-defense during attempted robberies.
Lehigh County District Attorney Jim Martin ruled Thursday that the killing of a man who broke into an Allentown home and attacked a juvenile the previous weekend was a justified use of self-defense.
Hours after the ruling, authorities said, a man opened fire on the masked armed robber of an east Allentown pizza shop, killing him. Martin said that shooting also was an act of self-defense.
On Jan. 18, a man broke into a home and attacked the juvenile with a metal cane during what authorities called an attempted home invasion. The two fought, and the juvenile stabbed the man during the struggle. Luis Nieves, 48, died a short time later, police said. The juvenile was taken to a hospital for treatment.
Martin determined the homicide was “justifiable on the basis of self-defense,” according to the release from his office.
On Thursday night, a masked man robbed a beverage distributor at gunpoint and then went next door to hold up the pizza shop. The owner of the first business confronted him there and the robber pointed a gun at him and was turning to flee when the first victim fired a legally possessed semiautomatic handgun, prosecutors said.
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Darrell Mussa, 27, collapsed in the parking lot and was pronounced dead at a hospital, prosecutors said.
After reviewing the findings of investigators, including in-store video, Martin ruled the homicide "justifiable on the grounds of self-defense," the prosecutor's office said in a release.
