The Allegheny County District Attorney’s office is seeking the death penalty against an Allegheny Township man accused of killing his ex-girlfriend and shooting another man at a Blawnox warehouse in March.
Sean Black, who turns 43 on Thursday, is accused of shooting Courtney Smith, 30, multiple times early in the morning of March 19 at Tri-Arc Manufacturing Co. on Fountain Street.
The two had been in a romantic relationship for several years and had three children together.
Police said the couple had recently separated, and Smith began dating a Tri-Arc co-worker, Daniel Zoelle, 26.
That morning, police said, Black and Smith got into a domestic dispute at work that turned physical.
The two started to wrestle outside Smith’s supervisor’s office when, police said, Black reached for a handgun.
“Sean—No! No!” Smith yelled, according to a criminal complaint.
Black shot Smith four to five times in the chest and then fired two or three more shots at Zoelle, police said.
Smith was pronounced dead at the scene. Zoelle, who was shot multiple times in the torso and limbs, was taken to Allegheny General Hospital in critical condition.
In April, Black waived his preliminary hearing on charges of homicide, attempted homicide, aggravated assault, reckless endangerment and firearms counts.
On Wednesday, the DA’s office filed its notice to seek the death penalty.
To do so, prosecutors are required to cite aggravating factors under the law that make a crime eligible for capital punishment.
In Black’s case, they cite three: that the defendant killed the victim while perpetrating a felony; that he knowingly created a serious risk of death to another person; and that he has a significant history of criminal convictions involving the use or threat of violence to the person.
No one has been executed in Pennsylvania since 1999, and former Gov. Tom Wolf issued a moratorium on capital punishment in 2015. Gov. Josh Shapiro has called on the legislature to abolish the death penalty.
There are 96 people on death row in Pennsylvania.
Allegheny County currently has six other pending capital cases.
Paula Reed Ward is a TribLive reporter covering federal and Allegheny County courts. She joined the Trib in 2019 after spending nearly 17 years at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, where she was part of a Pulitzer Prize-winning team. She is the author of “Death by Cyanide.” She can be reached at [email protected].
