May 16, 2008 9:57 pm US/Eastern
More Than Half Of Pittsburgh's Homicides Unsolved
Police Say They Need Witnesses To Come Forward
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) ―
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Ernest Tolliver, 15, was killed when a gunman shot him while he was sitting in his mother's car in a KFC drive-thru.
KDKA
On a rainy night in late January, Bernadette Lester and her son, 15-year-old Ernest Tolliver, pulled into the drive-thru at a Kentucky Fried Chicken in Homewood.
In the seconds that followed, her life would change forever.
"I pulled up to the window to pay for the food and was reaching into my purse," Lester recalled. Then, then I heard first two shots and then I turned and that's when I heard and seen the flash on the third shot and that's when my son just fell over and he called my name 'Mom,' 'Mom.' "
Medics rushed Tolliver to the hospital but he died 40 minutes later. Nearly four months after his death, his case is still unsolved.
"There was a lot of people outside, but of course nobody seen anything," Lester said.
Lack of witnesses and cooperation has stymied the case, along with about a dozen others. In fact, of 22 homicides this year, police have solved or cleared 10 - less than half.
This low clearance rate is not for lack of effort, according to Assistant Chief Maurita Bryant. She says police need more help from the community.
"They're upset and they say you need to do something about. The police need to do something about it -- but the police weren't there when it happened," Bryant said.
In cities like Buffalo and Baltimore, clearance rates have dropped below 30 percent. Police here believe they will solve many of these cases by year's end. But a lack of willing witnesses remains the major stumbling block. Such is the case with three unsolved bar shootings this year.
"Each time the bars were crowded, and no one saw anything," Bryant said.
In March, a young man was shot down in broad daylight in Manchester, but the response was the same.
"Lot of people out. Nice day. Nobody seen anything," Bryant said.
The decision to come forward is a tough one. A witness may risk retaliation, but Bryant says keeping silent only makes matters worse.
"The violence in your neighborhood and your community is not going to go away if you keep. If you really want to get rid of the violence in your neighborhood then you have to do something about it and one way to do something about it about is to cooperate with us," she said.
And Bernadette Lester believes a united community could band together against the criminals.
"I think it's been time that the community got together and intervened and helped stop all this madness with these guns and these senseless shootings," she said.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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