PITTSBURGH, Pa. — Target 11 has learned that 16-year-old Hezekiah Nixon and 19-year-old Shawn Davis have both been accused in prior shootings. Nixon and Davis were arrested on Friday and charged with attempted murder after allegedly opening fire outside a funeral at a church in Brighton Heights and wounding five people in what police are calling a “targeted attack.”
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Target 11 has learned that both Nixon and Davis have been in trouble before. Multiple source told Target 11 that Davis was one of the teens accused of opening fire at Ross Park Mall last year. Police said an altercation led to gunfire inside the mall. No one was hit by the gunfire, but it sent shoppers in the crowded mall fleeing for cover.
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Sources said Davis was charged as a juvenile but the case was dismissed after a judge ruled there were some identification issues, even though sources said gun residue was on Davis’ hands.
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Even before the Ross Park Mall shooting, Davis had been charged with aggravated assault and possession of a firearm in August of 2020.
He was charged as an adult in that case. According to court documents obtained by Target 11, Davis pleaded guilty in that case in April of this year. He had been in jail since his bond was revoked after the Ross Park Mall shooting.
A judge gave him credit for time served. He was released after serving approximately seven months of a 10-23 month sentence. He was ordered on probation for three years and placed on electronic monitoring for six months.
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According to court documents, the day of the funeral shooting would have been his last day on house arrest.
Sources say Nixon was charged as a juvenile with aggravated assault after firing a weapon into a crowd of people.
No one was hit and according to sources Nixon was sent to an after-school program.
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Target 11 reached out to the courts and the Allegheny County District Attorney’s Office for comment, but have not heard back.
Earlier this month, after a triple shooting on the North Side, a Pittsburgh police commander at a weekly news briefing expressed frustration with the system.
“Something’s wrong with our system when we have people that can continually go outside and perpetrate more violent crimes…I’m tired of going out to these scenes and seeing what I’m seeing and everybody else looking back at us as it’s a problem we can solve alone. We can’t. We’re a part of the solution. We are not the entire solution,” said Cmdr. Richard Ford.
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