Westmoreland DA says accused Ruffs Dale shooter has violent history with boyfriends

Rich Cholodofsky, Tribune-Review, Greensburg, Pa.

Feb. 17—Just hours before Andrew Pristas was gunned down, the woman charged with shooting him — his former girlfriend — had a similar violent confrontation with her current boyfriend, a Westmoreland County prosecutor said on Tuesday.

Meghan West, 30, of Ruffs Dale, is accused of killing Pristas but contends there is no evidence to support a charge of first-degree murder in connection with the Sept. 20 fatal shooting. In court documents, she claimed she fired a pistol through a door to ward off a potential attack from Pristas following an argument.

In court on Tuesday, District Attorney John Peck said an incident just hours earlier with West's new boyfriend offered proof of her intent to kill Pristas.

"It shows a pattern and that she has a volatile personality," Peck argued during a pretrial hearing before Judge Meagan Bilik-DeFazio.

Both incidents were sparked by disputes involving cell phones, Peck said. Hours before Pristas' death, prosecutors contend West spent the night with her new boyfriend, but became enraged with something she saw on his cellphone. Police said West became violent, scratched her boyfriend's face, threw the phone into the woods and ordered him out of her mobile home.

West was charged with simple assault and theft in connection with that incident.

Hours later, she was alone with Pristas, 33, of Greensburg, with whom she had lived for two years, when another argument ensued over a cellphone. West told police that Pristas was angered by something he saw on her phone and threatened her with violence before she retreated to a bedroom. Police contend West fired two shots through a door and hit Pristas in the lower back with one round.

Peck said police found pictures taken hours before the fatal shooting that depict West and Pristas hugging and mugging for the camera.

"The photographs defy any claim of fear on the part of West at that time," Peck argued.

The defense contends West had no intent to kill Pristas and that she feared for her life when she first fired a warning shot, then the fatal round, in an effort to stave off an expected attack.

Defense attorney Adam Gorzelsky also disputed that the alleged violent dispute between West and her new boyfriend had any bearing on the murder case.

"We're here to determine if she had an intent to kill Mr. Pristas, not that she gets mad at her boyfriends," Gorzelsky said.

Bilik-DeFazio said she will review written legal arguments before ruling on the defense request to dismiss a count of first-degree murder.

Since her arrest arrest last September, West has been held in jail without bond. A date for her trial has not been set.

Rich Cholodofsky is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Rich at 724-830-6293, rcholodofsky@triblive.com or via Twitter .

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