Oct 7, 2020 2 min read

Alfred G. Quevi of McDonald, charged with trying to kill his stepson with a point-blank shotgun blast, should not have possessed firearms because of a prior misdemeanor conviction, a Washington County prosecutor said Tuesday.

Quevi, 53, who is confined to Washington County jail, was ordered held for court on all charges by District Judge Gary Havelka.

Deputy District Attorney Jason Walsh amended the criminal complaint against Quevi to include illegal possession of the shotgun and a lever-action rifle that was found in the accused’s vehicle.

The victim of the Aug. 17 shooting, Tyler Shrum, 20, who lived with his mother and stepfather on East Lincoln Avenue, spent 39 days in Allegheny General Hospital, his mother testified at Tuesday’s preliminary hearing.

Melanie Quevi had been working that day at a local deli when she was the recipient of text messages from her husband telling her that she was a “terrible mother” and that he was going to “shoot Tyler.”

The couple argued after she arrived home from work that night, and Mrs. Quevi said her husband confronted her with a 12-gauge shotgun.

Shrum, who had been asleep in an upstairs bedroom, was awakened by the commotion, and he descended the stairs toward the kitchen.

Mrs. Quevi saw her husband aim the gun at her son, then point the barrel toward the floor.

She said she thought her husband was, at that point, thinking rationally, but then he shot the young man, who dropped to the floor, curled into a fetal position, and uttered, “Mommy, please help me.”

Alfred Quevi’s Assistant Public Defender Josh Carroll asked if the stepfather said to Shrum, “Get out of my way, I want to leave”?

Quevi then placed the shotgun on the floor and left the home.

McDonald Patrolman James Kubacki said Shrum identified his stepfather as the shooter before he was flown by helicopter to the Pittsburgh hospital.

Surgeons removed his spleen, a kidney, and part of his pancreas. He continues to receive medical care, his mother said.

A manhunt ensued, and Quevi gave himself up and, in a statement, admitted to shooting Shrum.

The defendant was charged with aggravated assault, making terroristic threats and reckless endangerment.

Quevi’s criminal record includes a misdemeanor corruption of a minor charge from 2006, Walsh said, which is related to the illegal possession of firearms counts.