Arnold shooting victim identifies defendant in attempted homicide trial

Rich Cholodofsky, Tribune-Review, Greensburg, Pa.
·3 min read

Apr. 15—Malcolm Dunem didn't hesitate when asked in court on Wednesday who shot him just yards from his Arnold home three years ago.

"Nick comes out from behind a fence with a gun pointed at me," Dunem testified in a Westmoreland County courtroom during the second day in the attempted homicide trial of Nicholas Haynes. "I put my hands up and he fired one shot that hit me in my stomach. He shot me again in my left arm.

"That put me to the ground. And he fired again and I was shot again in my right foot."

Westmoreland County prosecutors contend Haynes, 24, with listed addresses in Greensburg, Somerset and New Kensington, tried to kill Dunem, a man he once called a friend during an ambush in Arnold on April 12, 2018. It left Dunem with severe injuries that resulted in a monthlong hospital stay and five surgeries to repair injuries to his arm, liver, pancreas and intestines.

Haynes is charged with attempted homicide, aggravated assault, robbery and a weapons offense.

Dunem, now 21 of Allegheny County, testified he and Haynes turned adversaries prior to the shooting. He told jurors Haynes became upset after Dunem implicated two of Haynes' relatives in a robbery for which he was later convicted.

Dunem said Haynes called him a snitch and threatened to kill him in a video phone call in which Haynes brandished a gun.

"I thought he was faking, so I just brushed it off," Dunem testified.

Dunem said he didn't think he would survive the shooting.

"I felt like I'm dying. I was burning. I felt like my who body was on fire," Dunem told jurors.

He testified he was surprised when Haynes appeared at the drug deal Dunem arranged with friend Tavaughn Thornhill to sell Thornhill 10 ecstasy pills. Dunem testified he and Thornhill concocted a scheme to have Thornhill driven out from Latrobe by a woman they both knew by promising to pay her for damage to her car.

Just seconds after Dunem turned the drugs over to Thornhill, Haynes appeared and used a slang term for a robbery.

"Tavaughn is standing on the side of us. (Thornhill is) standing there and after the third shot I tell Tavaughn to go get him. They both run off and I had enough strength to run home," Dunem told jurors.

Prosecutors said Haynes tagged along on the trip from Latrobe and witnesses testified and after the shooting he ran back to the car with a gun in hand and later admitted to one of the woman passengers he shot Dunem over a grudge.

The defense has suggested Thornhill was the real shooter.

Thornhill, who also testified Wednesday, told jurors Haynes was the man who fired a .22-caliber semiautomatic handgun at Dunem.

Thornhill, under questioning from defense attorney Adam Gorzelsky, denied he ever possessed the weapon police suspect was used to shoot Dunem. He said pictures posted on social media accounts of him holding a similar weapon were actually of a BB gun that he previously stole from a local sporting goods store.

The prosecution is expected to continue its case against Haynes when the trial resumes Thursday before Westmoreland County Common Pleas Court Judge Scott Mears.

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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