Dec 22, 2020 4 min read

A Brownsville man is in jail on conspiracy to attempt homicide charges in connection with the assault on a pregnant Coal Center woman last week.

Troy Matthew Chiera, 34, of 309 National Ave., Brownsville, allegedly helped get rid of evidence for Dylan Lesnik, a Coal Center man accused of stabbing his pregnant girlfriend and killing his neighbor last week.

According to the criminal complaint filed by the Southwest Regional Police Department, Chiera was outside Lesnik’s Spring Street apartment the afternoon of Dec. 14, when Lesnik allegedly assaulted Cassie King.

Lesnik is in jail on an attempted homicide charge after he allegedly stabbed King in the neck, cut off part of her ear, and punched her in the face 10 times. According to the criminal complaint, King was bleeding on the floor, struggling to breathe and maintain consciousness, while begging Lesnik to call for an ambulance.

Lesnik allegedly called Chiera and told him to enter the apartment. King told police when Chiera entered the room and saw her collapsed on the floor, he “told her he was an EMT and began treating her,” the complaint said.

Police said Tuesday Chiera does not have an active EMT or first responder certification of which they’re aware. Police said Chiera told King he was an EMT so she wouldn’t call police.

Lesnik asked Chiera what he should do with the butcher knife, and Chiera told him he would need to “get rid of it,” the complaint said.

Later, Chiera told state police investigators Lesnik threw the butcher knife behind the residence at 135 Spring St., the complaint said.

While she was bleeding on the floor, Chiera and Lesnik started recording King on a cellphone and told her to say that some other acquaintance of hers did this to her, the complaint said.

King said when paramedics arrived, Chiera and Lesnik fled in Lesnik’s red Hyundai Sonata, which they sold the same day to Train Station Auto Inc., at 80 Main St., Brownsville. A week later, detectives from the Washington County District Attorney’s Office discovered the vehicle at the business. The company provided detectives with confirmation and surveillance footage of the two men selling the car that day, the complaint said.

Later, Chiera told state police investigators Lesnik threw the butcher knife behind the residence at 135 Spring St., the complaint said.

King, who was nine months pregnant at the time of the assault, was treated at Allegheny General hospital in Pittsburgh for her injuries, which included a severed artery in her neck and a broken bone in her spinal cord.

Chiera was charged Tuesday with criminal conspiracy to attempt homicide, conspiracy to commit aggravated assault, conspiracy to intimidate a victim, conspiracy to flight to avoid apprehension, conspiracy to terroristic threats, tampering with evidence and obstruction of law administration.

According to the Washington County jail website, Chiera was arrested Monday by California police for a county probation bench warrant. He has not yet been arraigned in this case, according to court documents.

Lesnik was charged with attempted homicide, aggravated assault, making terroristic threats and reckless endangerment. In a separate case, Lesnik was charged with criminal homicide, theft and abuse of a corpse after he allegedly stabbed his neighbor to death Friday afternoon.

Police said Marshall Y. Craig, 27, was found unconscious after he had been stabbed in the head and neck several times. Lesnik was found hiding in a truck in Fayette County, according to court documents. Police said Lesnik admitted to killing Craig and stabbing his body continuously after he was dead. Lesnik also allegedly admitted to taking Craig’s car after he killed him.

Lesnik is in jail without bail while he awaits his preliminary hearing before District Judge Joshua Kanalis at 9 a.m. Dec. 29.