Nathan Hurrell, an 18-year-old from Penn Hills, Pennsylvania, died on June 19, 2014. A recent graduate of Winchester Thurston School, he was remembered as a talented musician, a golfer and an outgoing theater kid who had played the lead in the school’s spring musical.

The shooting took place at a home on Springwood Drive where Nathan and several friends were gathered. According to the criminal complaint, Damien Franklin had multiple guns on an enclosed rear patio. Nathan picked up a 12-gauge shotgun and pointed it at Damien, who told him to put it down. Damien then picked up another rifle, and as he pulled the slide back the rifle discharged, striking Nathan in the temple.

Damien Franklin was charged with criminal homicide. After a bench trial, Judge Jeffrey A. Manning found him not guilty, concluding the evidence did not support murder or the recklessness or negligence required for manslaughter; the judge accepted the defense claim that the shooting was an accident. Nathan’s parents, David and Diane Dee Hurrell, and his sisters Samantha and Jennifer survived him.

If anyone was at the Springwood Drive gathering or has information about what happened that day, please share what is known.