Three plead guilty in Ta’Niyah Thomas killing
Ta’Niyah Thomas
Curtis William Thomas Jr., father of Ta’Niyah Thomas, 10, stands outside the courtroom displaying his T-shirt in memory of his daughter after three men, Anthian Goehring, Richard White and Malik Thomas, pleaded guilty in her shooting death.
Washington County District Attorney Gene Vittone talks about the pleas from three men involved in the fatal shooting of 10-year-old Ta’Niyah Thomas.
Sheriff’s deputies lead Anthian Goehring, front, Richard White and Malik Thomas, back, to Washington County Courthouse Friday morning.
Ta’Niyah Thomas’ father spent March 31 at a place no father ever wants to be: in a cemetery beside the grave of his daughter on the anniversary of her death, praying and lighting candles.
Curtis William Thomas Jr., 31, of Washington, wore a T-shirt emblazoned with the picture of his little girl to the Washington County Courthouse on Friday as three of the four men accused in the shooting death of the child inside her West End apartment that night in March 2014 pleaded guilty to charges related to the crime.
The garment he wears as a tribute to his slain daughter was covered with a red-and-black hooded sweatshirt, which he unzipped in the courthouse hallway to reveal an image of Ta’Niyah, who was also wearing red and black when her photo was taken.
It was a brief proceeding before Judge Edward Borkowski, and Thomas had more to say afterward than any of the three defendants, who barely spoke in court.
“I represent my child every day. What if this was your child?” Thomas Jr. asked. “Why would you low-ball the pleas?”
Anthian Goehring, 29, Douglas Cochran Jr., 19, Malik Thomas, 21, and Richard White, 19, all of Washington, were charged in the death of Ta’Niyah. Malik Thomas is a distant relative of the victim.
Cochran, who was not present in court Friday, has a trial date scheduled for this summer. He is charged with criminal homicide, robbery, theft, burglary and reckless endangerment.
Goehring, whom police allege entered the building with Cochran, who was also armed, pleaded guilty to third-degree murder, which is killing with malice; conspiracy and robbery inflicting serious bodily injury.
Malik Thomas and White, who remained in a car outside the apartment, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit homicide and robbery inflicting serious bodily injury.
Malik Thomas also pleaded guilty to possession with intent to deliver 7.5 grams of heroin.
Borkowski, an Allegheny County judge who is a former assistant district attorney, is presiding specially in the case. He scheduled sentencings for the three men for July 10.
Asked if the men would be required to testify against Cochran at his July 6 trial, District Attorney Gene Vittone said, “Under the rules of professional conduct, I can’t comment on that.”
The child’s father expressed his displeasure with two of the three defendants’ pleas, saying they were too lenient.
Thomas talked with Mayor Brenda Davis before the plea hearing, and police after the plea hearing. He then spoke with members of the media.
“This is not justice for any 10-year-old child. I did not approve this,” he said. He claimed the two men who remained in the car had different degrees of culpability but they pleaded guilty to identical charges and could potentially receive the same sentence. The conspiracy counts carry a maximum sentence of 20 to 40 years in prison and robbery has a maximum penalty of 10 to 20 years.
Goehring, with a plea to the additional charge of third-degree murder, could receive an additional 20 to 40 years behind bars.
Thomas also questioned why the district attorney’s office did not hold out for a plea to second-degree murder from Goehring. Second-degree murder, which is committing murder during the course of a felony, such as robbery, carries a mandatory sentence of life imprisonment.
“Third-degree’s a little light,” he said.
Thomas Jr. said of the guns used the night of the killing, “They’re floatin’ around on the street somewhere.” The district attorney’s office confirmed that the murder weapons have not been recovered.
All four men are being held in area jails without bond.
The victim’s father also said he was not kept informed of discussions that occurred before Friday, nor was he told of the defendants’ court appearance.
First Assistant District Attorney Chad Schneider said he and Thomas Jr. were present at a pretrial hearing before Borkowski last month when the judge scheduled Friday’s proceeding, for which Schneider produced a transcript. He said he discussed the court date with the slain child’s father.
Ta’Niyah was killed inside the 450 W. Chestnut St. home she shared with her mother, Shantye Brown, her mother’s boyfriend, Robert Lester, and a then-10-month-old infant.
Police determined robbery was the motive behind the shooting, and allege that Goehring and Cochran kicked in the main door of the apartment building, approached the second-floor apartment and fired multiple shots through the door. Ta’Niyah apparently heard the gunfire and ran from her bedroom to get her mother when she was hit by two bullets. The fourth-grade honor student at Washington Park Elementary School, who was also a cheerleader, was pronounced dead a short time later at Washington Hospital of a gunshot wound to the head.
Hundreds have rallied throughout the community since her death. Local groups who aim to stop area crime have held fundraisers and benefits in her name.
Ta’Niyah’s mother, Shantye R. Brown, 35, is awaiting trial in Washington County Court on charges of drug dealing and possession of a controlled substance that state police filed in February of last year.
She is free on bond, but Schneider said Brown has not contacted the district attorney’s office to discuss the cases involving her daughter’s death.