Kenneth Beckel, 25, of Carnegie, was killed on September 11, 2015, following a drug-related meeting in Pittsburgh’s Marshall-Shadeland neighborhood. The encounter around 3:00 p.m. involved a Chevrolet Silverado pickup near Brighton Road and Ingham Street; court records say Beckel and Jamie Romesburg had gone there to buy $275 worth of heroin. Witnesses described a sudden burst of violence inside the truck: someone was ordered out, three or four shots were heard, and a person jumped from the back door and fled. Romesburg was dead at the scene.

Beckel was found alive, given CPR, and taken to Allegheny General Hospital, where he was pronounced dead later that night. A forensic pathologist ruled both deaths homicides from gunshot wounds; shell casings from a .380-caliber firearm were recovered. Investigators tied John Williams, known as Butters, to the shooting through witness testimony.

Williams was arrested on November 18, 2015, and charged with criminal homicide, robbery, and firearm offenses; at trial prosecutors argued the killing was tied to a robbery during the drug transaction rather than self-defense, and the jury convicted him of two counts of first-degree murder, two counts of robbery, and a firearms charge.