A Carrick man whose conviction for third-degree murder was overturned because of a faulty jury instruction had his sentence vastly reduced after pleading guilty Monday to voluntary manslaughter, a lesser charge.

Derek Vasos, 45, already served 7 1/2 years in prison on the case and will not have any additional incarceration.

He had been sentenced to 15 to 30 years in prison.

Vasos had won a new trial but worked out a deal with the prosecution that led to the plea. Allegheny County Common Pleas Jennifer Satler ordered Vasos to serve two years probation.

He has been on electronic home monitoring since a bail hearing in July.

Vasos had just left the Carrick Literary Club, an after-hours establishment, on Feb. 5, 2017, when he shot and killed Donald Ketter Jr., 28.

At Vasos’ original trial before Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge David R. Cashman, prosecutors presented testimony that both men had been in the club that night, and when they left, Vasos got into the front seat of an Uber.

Ketter was standing in the middle of Copperfield Avenue, blocking traffic.

Vasos honked the Uber’s horn, when, he said, Ketter came at the vehicle with a belt wrapped around his hand. Vasos described Ketter as being in a rage.

Vasos told the jury that as Ketter neared the car, Vasos pulled the gun he was legally carrying and fired out the passenger side window. He claimed that Ketter, whose blood alcohol content was twice the legal limit for driving and had cocaine in his system, kept approaching.

At trial, Vasos’ attorney, Phil DiLucente, argued his client acted in self-defense.

But the prosecution said that Vasos could not have reasonably believed he was in danger because Ketter had not reached in the car or touched him. And, they said, one witness testified that Ketter’s hands were up before he was shot.

Further, the prosecutor noted at trial that Vasos ordered the Uber driver to “go,” and ran his finger across his own throat when he was getting out, saying that the driver didn’t see anything.

When the case went to the jury to deliberate, the defense did not formally request that the jury be instructed on the law of voluntary manslaughter, which includes having an unreasonable belief that a person is in danger.

The jury convicted Vasos of third-degree murder.

In August 2021, Vasos filed a petition for post-conviction relief alleging ineffective assistance of counsel. He argued that his attorney should have requested the jury be instructed on manslaughter. Now-retired Common Pleas Judge Anthony M. Mariani held a hearing on the appeal in December 2022 and granted the motion for a new trial.

The state Superior Court upheld the decision in May.

On Monday, Vasos pleaded guilty to manslaughter.

His new defense attorney, Kenneth Haber, told the court that his client had no criminal record and had worked in medical supply sales before his arrest.

Even during his yearslong incarceration, Haber said, Vasos had no misconducts.

“He’s not someone who ever would intentionally harm another person,” he said. “He’s been tormented by it every day since.

“His remorse is something he expresses every day.”

Haber called Vasos “a quintessential rule follower.”

But Assistant District Attorney Diana Page told the court that Ketter’s mother disagrees.

“From her eyes, that couldn’t be farther from the truth,” Page said. “Had the defendant not carried a firearm in to the club that night, her son would be alive today.”

Vasos told Satler, the judge, that he never expected to find himself facing criminal charges.

“I’m someone who tries to find peace and not seek trouble,” he said. “I did not seek it that night either.”

But he was fearful of being attacked, Vasos continued.

“That night changed my life forever,” he said.

Vasos also apologized to the Ketter family.

“I wish our paths would have never crossed that night,” he said. “I am truly sorry.”

Copyright ©2025— Trib Total Media, LLC (TribLIVE.com)