3rd suspect arrested in 2019 shooting death in Wilkinsburg

A third suspect in a 2019 homicide in Wilkinsburg has been taken into custody, according to the U.S. Marshals Service.

Jeremiah Ligon, 26, of Penn Hills, was arrested Wednesday by the Marshals’ Western Pennsylvania Fugitive Task Force in connection with the shooting death of Mager Rainey, 22, of Pittsburgh’s Homewood neighborhood, the service said.

Ligon was arrested in Penn Hills when the task force said it executed a search warrant for a residence in the 200 block of Lansdowne Drive.

Ligon was arraigned on charges including criminal homicide, attempted homicide, conspiracy, aggravated assault and reckless endangerment. He is being held in Allegheny County Jail without bail. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Jan. 4.

Two other suspects — Herbert Lee Walker III, 27, and Kenya Harper, 28, both of Pittsburgh — previously were arrested on homicide and other charges and are awaiting trial.

The shooting happened in Rainey’s vehicle as its occupants were preparing to leave a home on Jeannette Street, according to a criminal complaint filed by Allegheny County Police.

Investigators said a pickup shown fleeing the scene in surveillance video had been rented by Harper. Police obtained text messages of Walker sending specifications to Harper for renting a vehicle and purchasing a firearm, according to the complaint.

Police said crime lab results showed that spent shell casings found at the scene of the Wilkinsburg homicide and at a shooting on July 14, 2019, in Pittsburgh were discharged from a pistol recovered during a search of Harper’s home. A fingerprint on a cellphone found at the Pittsburgh shooting scene was a match for Walker, the complaint said.

Ligon created a subscription for a transponder tracking device that was placed on Rainey’s vehicle, police said. Ligon told police that Walker had control of Ligon’s phone, which was equipped with an app for the tracking device, the complaint said.

Police obtained records indicating that Walker texted “Found em” to Harper less than an hour before the Wilkinsburg shooting and that Ligon’s cellphone was in the vicinity of that scene less than 15 minutes before the shooting, according to the complaint.