Dec 10, 2022 4 min read

A marathon preliminary hearing at the Washington County Courthouse ended with a judge ordering the defendant to stand trial for fatally shooting a Monessen man earlier this year.

Keaundre Crews, 29, of Fallowfield appeared before District Judge Phillippe Melograne Friday, and is accused of shooting Jaisen A. Irwin, 29, shortly after 1 a.m. Oct. 10 in the parking lot of Bob’s Tavern in Finleyville.

Also charged in the case is Maurissa Larae Spencer, 23, of South Park. She waived her preliminary hearing and will stand trial on charges of homicide, hindering apprehension, tampering with physical evidence and reckless endangerment.

Spencer is accused of driving Irwin the night he was killed. After Irwin had been shot, Spencer allegedly left Irwin’s body on the side of the road in the 3600 block of Washington Avenue after driving away from Bob’s Tavern.

The hearing lasted nearly five hours and had Melograne frequently scolding both District Attorney Jason Walsh and Crews’ attorney Kenneth Haber to only address him, and not each other.

Walsh was visibly frustrated when one of his witnesses, Elijah White, invoked his Fifth Amendment right to not testify when Walsh asked where he was on the date of the shooting.

Walsh asked Melograne to require White to answer the question or otherwise be held in contempt. White was represented in the courtroom by attorney Ryan Tutera, and after a lengthy conversation at the bench, Melograne said he did not have the authority to hold someone in contempt.

Melograne allowed White to exercise his right not to testify, but advised him that the issue of a contempt charge may be raised when the case is heard in common pleas court.

The prosecution, however, presented a series of video clips from the surveillance system at Jim’s Bar in Monongahela. County Detective Matthew Collins testified that the video shows Irwin, Crews and White arguing inside the bar before being kicked out.

Also in the bar at the time was Spencer, according to Collins’ testimony. After being kicked out, Irwin and Spencer left for Bob’s Tavern.

State Police Trooper Jason Morgan walked the courtroom through how they extracted trip log data from both Crews’ white Jeep Grand Cherokee and Spencer’s Dodge Charger.

Morgan testified that the data shows Spencer’s movement to Bob’s Tavern after being kicked out of Jim’s Bar, but that Crews drove to his home on Grange Road for about a minute before leaving and parking at Bob’s Tavern.

According to Morgan’s testimony, the data shows that Spencer’s car briefly stopped on Washington Avenue in the area where Irwin’s body was found, while Crews’ Jeep went back to Grange Road.

Though Spencer did not call 911, Monongahela Police Sgt. Ryan Lenzi testified that at about 8 a.m. she called the station to report damage to her vehicle. She did not mention the shooting until Lenzi pressed for more information.

Morgan also testified that surveillance footage from different businesses and intersections in the area corroborates the travel data from both vehicles.

Haber argued to have the case dismissed, saying that prosecutors failed to prove that Crews was responsible for Irwin’s death. Haber pointed to the lack of evidence of Crews having a gun, and argued that no witnesses directly identified Crews as the shooter. He also contended that the prosecution did not prove that Crews was driving the Jeep after it stopped at Grange Road.

Melograne disagreed and held the homicide charge for court, as well as a felony for for prohibited possession of a firearm. An additional count of conspiracy tied to the homicide charge was dismissed, as was a felony for carrying a firearm without a license.

Spencer is due to appear in court for arraignment at 9 a.m. Jan. 19. An arraignment date for Crews has not been scheduled.