3-year-old girl shot, killed in bed; man arrested

PITTSBURGH — A 3-year-old girl was found dead in her bed from a gunshot wound early Sunday morning in Pittsburgh’s Beltzhoover neighborhood, according to police.

The home on East Warrington Avenue is near the South Hills Junction T stop. Police were called there around 1:30 a.m. for a shooting.

When officers were clearing the home for a possible shooter, they found Chassity Clancy dead from a single gunshot wound to the neck.

WATCH: ‘We’re grieving hard:’ Family remembering 3-year-old girl killed in tragic shooting

In that bedroom, police also found a man, Marlin Pritchard, 51. He was taken to police headquarters where he told investigators people were after him and he was sleeping with a pistol grip shotgun under his pillow, according to a criminal complaint.

Pritchard had returned that evening from a contracting job, he told police, when he went to lay down in the bedroom where Clancy and another child were watching movies. He claims he woke up to the sound of a bang, saw the other child run out of the room and saw blood.

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Pritchard was charged with criminal homicide, endangering the welfare of children and illegally having a weapon since he was a convicted felon. Police said he is not related to Clancy and there were adults in the home babysitting.

Grief support for the community will be available Tuesday night from 5:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. at McKinley Park Shelter House on Delmont Avenue.

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