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Belle Vernon man sentenced to lengthy prison term for road rage shooting in Rostraver

By Mike Jones 2 min read
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Anthony Hairston

A Fayette County man convicted of murdering a woman during a road rage shooting in Rostraver Township on New Year’s Day in 2022 was sentenced Wednesday to a lengthy prison term.

Anthony Hairston, 29, of Belle Vernon, was sentenced by Westmoreland County Judge Christopher Feliciani to serve 40 to 80 years in a state prison for the shooting death of Holly Vadella as she drove along Rostraver Road in the township.

A Westmoreland County jury convicted Hairston of third-degree murder, evidence tampering and various drug and firearm charges after deliberating for about two hours Nov. 7 following a four-day trial.

“While Mr. Hairston will have to live the next 40 to 80 years inside the walls of a prison, this sentence does not bring Holly Vadella back to her loving family,” Westmoreland County District Attorney Ziccarelli said in a written statement. “The judge imposed the maximum sentence for third-degree murder, but this crime was unprovoked, senseless and egregious.”

Hairston and his friends had just left a New Year’s Eve party and were driving to a local bar in Rostraver Township trying to make it before it closed in the early hours of Jan. 1, 2022, when he came behind Vadella’s slower vehicle on Rostraver Road. He attempted to pass her vehicle, but investigators said Vadella swerved into Hairston’s lane, causing him to become angry before pulling out a gun and firing two shots toward her car.

Rostraver police located Vadella’s body inside her vehicle on the side of the road near Virginia Drive. Vadella, 59, of Rostraver Township, was an employee of California University of Pennsylvania at the time of her killing.

Assistant district attorneys Leo Ciaramitaro and Anthony Iannamorelli prosecuted the case against Hairston.

Hairston’s defense attorney Brian Aston did not respond to a phone message Friday seeking comment on the sentencing.

Hairston is also facing charges of witness intimidation, which were pending the adjudication of the homicide case.

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