Homicide trial begins in Bob’s Tavern shooting
Monessen man killed after leaving Finleyville bar in 2022
The prosecution asked jurors to use their “common sense” that Keaundre Crews shot and killed Jaisen Irwin outside Bob’s Tavern in Finleyville more than three years ago, while the defense noted there is no physical evidence linking the defendant to the homicide.
During opening statements Thursday in Crews’ homicide trial at the Washington County Courthouse, District Attorney Jason Walsh said investigators analyzed an onboard computer in the suspect’s vehicle showing it traveled to and from the shooting scene in the early hours of Oct. 10, 2022.
Crews and Irwin had been at Jim’s Bar in Monongahela hours earlier drinking with friends when apparently some sort of argument ensued that turned into a physical altercation. Elijah White, who was drinking with Crews at the time, apparently threw his drink at Irwin and the argument spilled out onto the sidewalk along West Main Street as the bartender kicked the feuding groups out.
Irwin and Crews put their fists up to fight, but Crews retreated before punches could be thrown and left in his SUV, Walsh said. Irwin grabbed a ride with Maurissa Spencer, and they drove to Bob’s Tavern on Route 88 in Finleyville for a nightcap.
During that time, Walsh said Crews sped down back roads from Monongahela on his way back to his home near Bentleyville, where he left his SUV idling for four minutes before turning around and speeding to Finleyville. Walsh said the onboard computer that investigators retrieved from his vehicle showed it arriving at Bob’s Tavern just before the shooting and leaving at the same time eight gunshots were heard in the parking lot as Irwin and Spencer were leaving the bar.
Irwin, 29, of Monessen, was shot six times and a seventh bullet grazed him as he sat in the passenger seat of Spencer’s car. Spencer drove away, but stopped a short distance away from the bar, where she pushed Irwin’s body out of the vehicle and left it on the side of the road in the 3600 block of Washington Avenue in Finleyville. Monongahela police officers, who patrol Finleyville and were initially called to Bob’s Tavern for the report of shots fired, found Irwin’s body about 90 minutes after the shooting.
“We’re here because we’re seeking justice for Jaisen,” Walsh said. “Use your common sense.”
Walsh said the defense would attempt to poke holes in the prosecution’s case against Crews, but the GPS coordinates from the SUV’s infotainment system tracked his movements and placed it outside Bob’s Tavern when gunshots rang out at 1:10 a.m.
“What they cannot change is the location of the vehicle,” Walsh said.
Kenneth Haber, who is the defense attorney representing Crews, said in his opening statement that Walsh’s “defensive posture” in his presentation showed “they can’t prove their case (because) they don’t have evidence” against his client.
“They want to say Mr. Crews is guilty because he almost got into a fistfight with Jaisen Irwin,” Haber said.
Haber said a witness to the shooting who was living in an upstairs apartment above the bar told investigators that the shooter was at least 6-foot-1 and wearing a grey hooded sweatshirt with dreads coming out the sides. Walsh noted in his statements that Crews had dreadlocks at the time, but Haber pointed to surveillance video from the altercation at Jim’s Bar in Monongahela that showed he was wearing a white jumpsuit that night. Haber added that Crews is 5 feet, 7 inches tall, which would make him too short to match the shooter’s description.
“The person (the witness) saw couldn’t possibly be Keaundre Crews,” Haber said. “Because it wasn’t – wasn’t – Keaundre Crews.”
Haber said there is no physical evidence connecting Crews to the shooting – the handgun used to kill Irwin was never recovered – despite a search of the defendant’s Fallowfield Township house and vehicle the day after the homicide. He said the clothing Crews wore to Jim’s Bar in Monongahela had no traces of gunshot residue, nor was there any indication that gunshots were fired from his SUV.
“They want you to leap across a gorge so large and so deep to risk your own lives,” Haber told the jury.
Spencer, 27, of South Park, who is charged with homicide, conspiracy, hindering apprehension, evidence tampering and reckless endangerment, was called to the stand to testify about the events leading up to the shooting.
She said there was “arguing back and forth” at Jim’s Bar between Irwin, Crews and White that eventually spilled outside before the groups went their separate ways. Spencer said that while she and Irwin were at Bob’s Tavern for a drink, he got a call from someone telling him he should leave the bar. They walked out to her car and she noticed a white SUV near her vehicle as Irwin got into the passenger seat.
“As soon as the doors closed, shots, gunshots,” she said.
She pulled out of the parking lot and drove before stopping her car and pushing Irwin’s body out onto the shoulder of the road. Spencer later discarded Irwin’s cellphone after parking her car at her aunt’s house.
“I just tried to leave as soon as it happened,” Spencer said. “I didn’t know how to react in that situation. I was just scared.”
Walsh asked her if she was promised anything from prosecutors for her testimony since she is facing homicide charges, and she said she has not been offered anything for her cooperation, although her attorney sat by her side as she testified. However, she admitted that she did not know the shooter’s identity and did not accuse Crews of firing the fatal shots.
“I hope whoever killed Jaisen gets jail time,” said Spencer, who is free on $250,000 unsecured bond. “He did not deserve to die.”
Crews, 32, is charged with homicide, conspiracy, prohibited possession of a firearm and carrying a firearm without a license. He has been held without bond at the Washington County jail since his arrest at a North Charleroi home about five weeks after the shooting.
Testimony in the jury trial before Judge John DiSalle will continue this morning.