Warrant issued for Donora man charged in Washington homicide
A warrant has been issued for the arrest of a Donora man charged with homicide in the shooting death of a Washington man in front of Family Dollar on Highland Avenue in the city Tuesday afternoon.
Darnell “Cuddy” Brown, 41, of Washington, had six young children and his girlfriend, Leeann Group, in the car with him when he stopped at the store about 3:45 p.m., according to Washington Police Sgt. Jack Hancock. He went inside and upon returning to the vehicle, was shot in the head by the suspect, identified by police as Zackory James Sadler, 36.
Group is the mother of the children, all under the age of 10, who were in Brown’s car. Brown was identified as the biological father of one of them, and Sadler, the father of another, Hancock said.
Hancock said Sadler fired the gun from inside another vehicle, a black 2013 BMW that had been reported stolen.
When police arrived, Brown was unresponsive. He was pronounced dead at 4:38 p.m., according to the Washington County coroner. According to the criminal complaint, the autopsy revealed that Brown was “struck by a single bullet which entered the left side of his head and was therein recovered.”
According to the criminal complaint, Group told police that she heard two gunshots before seeing Brown collapse to the ground in front of the vehicle in which she and her children were sitting. She exited the vehicle and saw Sadler, through an open window of the BMW, pointing a gun in Brown’s direction.
According to the complaint, Group called out to Sadler by name, who allegedly made eye contact with her before fleeing the scene. Police said three witnesses who don’t know Sadler saw and heard Group call his name.
Police found a .380 auto pistol cartridge at the scene and recovered a discharged projectile from a trash can next to where Brown was shot, according to the complaint.
Washington police charged Sadler with criminal homicide, seven counts of recklessly endangering another person, former convict not to possess a firearm and firearm not to be carried without a license. Hancock said Sadler has been charged previously with violent crimes.
“Based off this and his prior convictions, he’s dangerous,” Hancock said.
The license plate on the BMW is LLB6554. Anyone with information on his location is asked to contact Washington police at 724-223-4226. Washington Police Chief Robert Wilson said he’s requesting that Sadler turn himself in. Hancock said police have not yet made any contact with Sadler since the shooting, but that they’re “putting a game plan together.
“We have a lot of agencies helping us out,” he said. “We believe there are other people helping him hide from us. They’ll be held responsible, too.”
Hancock said Sadler, who uses multiple spellings for his first name, is originally from Washington and has “a lot of family in this area.” He said Sadler also has ties to Donora, but would not confirm whether Sadler is a suspect in another shooting that occurred in Donora less than an hour after Brown was killed.
Donora Mayor Jim McDonough said he believed the homicide and borough shooting were related.
He said the victim in that incident was shot in the left leg and right foot inside 620 Heslep Ave. about 4:30 p.m. and flown to Allegheny General Hospital, Pittsburgh, and was expected to survive.
A GoFundMe account has been started for Brown’s family for funeral expenses. So far, it’s raised more than $4,000.