Chaz White and Deshawn Hollinger decided in the early evening of March 25 to stop by White’s friend, Isaiah Coleman and his girlfriend’s house. White and Coleman had been close friends for several years, but unknown to Coleman or his girlfriend, both men were carrying handguns at the time.
After several minutes had passed, Coleman’s girlfriend Destinee Deihl, along with Hollinger walked into the house and seconds later both heard a single gunshot, and upon returning to the porch saw Coleman on the ground bleeding from a single gunshot wound to his chest, and White was nowhere to be found.
According to the criminal complaint filed in the case, Hollinger eventually told Allegheny County homicide detectives that moments after the shooting he ran around the back of the house and saw White standing on a hill asking Hollinger to “give me your gun.”
Both men, according to the court document, hid the two handguns behind a nearby house where investigators eventually found them. According to court testimony today and court documents, only White’s DNA was found on the pistol that was determined to be murder weapon.
White pleaded guilty this afternoon to one count each of third-degree murder, carrying a firearm without a license and tampering with evidence.
After hearing from several of Coleman’s relatives, including his father Eric Coleman, his sister Rachel Coleman, James Coleman, the victim’s grandfather as well as Diehl, Common Pleas Judge Donna Jo McDaniel sentenced White to serve a five to 10 year prison sentence, and pay a fine just over $6500, which immediately brought gasps and outbursts from Coleman’s family members.
Upon hearing that the man who admitted to shooting his son in the heart, and letting him bleed to death while running away from the scene of the shooting, James Coleman picked up a photo of his son, that he had just shown McDaniel minutes before, and threw it on the floor and started yelling, “I can’t believe this [expletive] several times.
Coleman’s apparent uncontrollable outbursts of anger toward White’s sentence caused the proceedings to be halted while Coleman was escorted from the courtroom by three sheriff’s deputies. Several other members of Coleman’s family could be seen crying, including Diehl.
“My son will never have a chance to have children. This man over here [pointing to White] said he was my son’s friend—he is not his friend,” Coleman’s father told Judge McDaniel in a subdued voice. He added, “He could have stopped the bleeding, but he didn’t.”
A medical examiner had previously concluded that Coleman “bleed to death,” from a single gunshot wound that pierced his heart, Steven Robinowitz, Assistant District Attorney told Judge McDaniel today.
“He taught me how to love, how to be an adult,” Diehl told Judge McDaniel and then asked her to sentence White to the maximum amount of prison time, which could have been up to 40 years.
After the sentencing Diehl said she had been dating Coleman for three years saying White, “should have gotten way more time.” “He was my rock, my love and now my love is gone forever.”
James Coleman had some harsh words concerning what he claims is a light sentence White received, “If the court won’t take care of him, we will. We stick together as a family and we will take care of things if the judge won’t.” He added “You can rob someone or a store and get more time than [White] got.”.
White’s lawyer Richard Narvin stressed that White had never been convicted of a crime and he “Accepted responsibility for his actions and is remorseful for what happened.”
Every member of Coleman’s family who gave their victim impact statement Wednesday took issue with White’s claims of accepting responsibility and being remorseful over Coleman’s death.
White will not face any additional prison time or probation over the firearms or tampering with evidence charges.
