Passenger suspected in slaying of pregnant Lawrenceville driver
Feb. 26—The same man Katara Bray told a friend she hoped wasn't the father of her child now stands accused of killing her early this month, according to police and court paperwork.
Jason Brown, 24, is charged with homicide in connection with the Feb. 8 shooting death of Bray in Pittsburgh's Lawrenceville neighborhood. Pittsburgh police said Friday that Brown is awaiting extradition from the Venango County Jail where he's being held on unrelated charges.
Bray, 22, was found shot to death in the driver's seat of a red Ford Fiesta that was crashed into a utility pole near the intersection of Davison and 45th streets.
A friend, referred to in the criminal complaint against Brown as Witness 5, told police Bray said earlier on the day of the shooting she believed she might be pregnant. The friend said Brown had one child with Brown and she "did not want the baby to be Brown's baby," according to the complaint.
The friend said Bray indicated Brown "was not a good role model," police wrote.
The friend also indicated that about 7:30 p.m. the night of the shooting, Brown was at the home Bray shared with others and began begging Bray to drop him off somewhere, according to the complaint. Two other witnesses who were there at the time also said they saw Bray and Brown leave together about the same time.
One witness said that Bray asked everyone in the home with her whether they wanted to go with her to drop Brown off, but no one wanted to go, according to the complaint.
Police received a call reporting the shooting less than 90 minutes later.
Two witnesses who live near the scene of the shooting and crash said they saw a tall Black man with shoulder-length dreads run from the area, according to the complaint. They reported the man was wearing a dark-colored sweatshirt and ran toward 45th Street.
In the passenger seat of the crashed car, police found paperwork belonging to Brown on the floor, along with a cell phone that was discovered to be his, according to the complaint. A fingerprint lifted from the passenger-side door also matched Brown.
Megan Guza is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Megan at 412-380-8519, mguza@triblive.com or via Twitter .
