Washington police, family seek clues in an execution-style murder
A Facebook photo of Marius Chatman.
Marius Chatman with his mother, Tamarra Ratley
Marius Chatman was found shot to death here in March along School Avenue, close to its intersection with D Alley and beside the 7th Ward playground.
In the early hours of a rainy March night, Marius TreVaughn Chatman spoke on his cellphone with the people who Washington police suspect may have later killed him execution-style alongside a city playground.
The information led the Washington County district attorney’s office to obtain search warrants to review the communications on Chatman’s cellphones before he was shot nine times along a dark alley in the city’s 7th Ward, according to court records from the case that were unsealed two weeks ago at the request of the Observer-Reporter.
“The Marius Chatman murder was the most heinous one we’ve seen to date,” said Trey Willis, the murdered man’s friend, who joined the victim’s family Thursday in a meeting with city police to discuss the investigation.
“I want this to be solved,” Chatman’s mother, Tamarra Ratley of Washington, said after the meeting ended.
Chatman, 24, was among three Washington men whose murders remain unsolved.
Five months before Chatman’s slaying, Matthew Eric McGlone, 21, was killed in a similar shooting behind a bar in the 1100 block of Jefferson Avenue in Washington. Police have pursued suspects in the Oct. 24, 2014, homicide, and investigators also obtained his cellphone records during the investigation into what was labeled a “retaliation shooting,” court records show. The McGlone family declined to comment on the case Thursday, Willis said.
Chatman and McGlone knew each other and were not enemies, police said.
In the other case, Vincent Kelley, 46, was shot and killed June 16, 2013, while he tried to stop a bank robber fleeing a Citizens Bank branch in the Giant Eagle store in Strabane Square in South Strabane Township. The robber has never been identified.
Township police Chief Donald Zofchak said identifying the robber was complicated because he was wearing a floppy hat, mask and gloves. He also carried an umbrella.
“There wasn’t a whole lot pulled from that (surveillance video),” Zofchak said Friday.
He said investigators still hope new information surfaces in the investigation that “is still a big priority for us.”
The Kelley family hasn’t given up hope, either, that new information will surface in the case, said Mark Kelley, the victim’s brother.
“We’re still waiting for that day to come,” said the Washington resident. “They’re saying it’s a cold case and there are no new leads coming in.”
Washington police Lt. Dan Stanek said police are still pursuing leads in both the Chatman and McGlone homicides, and the cases remain priorities for city investigators.
Chatman’s partially nude body was found by police on the ground at School Avenue and D Alley near the 7th Ward playground after officers were summoned there about 4 a.m. that day to investigate gunfire. His cellphones were not found at the scene. Police did gather information that two unidentified people were seen fleeing the area after the gunfire ceased, according to the affidavit supporting the search warrant applications.
The playground is under 24-hour video surveillance, which proved fruitless in the dark of night, police said.
“At this time in the investigation, there is no evidence that Chatman was involved in wrongdoing that night,” Stanek said.
Willis said four of the gunshots struck Chatman in the face, wounds that were visible in his open casket at the funeral services.
Chatman’s relatives expressed frustration Thursday at the silence from the community about such a “cold-blooded murder.”
“There should be more cooperation among his friends,” Ratley said.
His relatives described him as someone who had a big heart and was too trusting of people. The musician had a young son and was expecting a daughter at the time of his killing.
Willis said he hopes putting the story about his friend’s homicide back in the news might be enough to persuade someone with information about the murder to come forward.
Stanek said police do need help from the public in solving the crimes.
Anyone with information about the Chatman or McGlone murders can call Washington County 911, or 724-223-4226 during business hours.