Shadyside stabbing suspect’s bond revoked, judge orders him back to jail
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A district judge on Thursday revoked a Shadyside man’s bond and ordered him back to Allegheny County Jail after the district attorney’s office said he presented a threat to the community.
Jasper Jacob Hilliard, 21, faces charges including attempted homicide in connection with the stabbing of a 72-year-old man on Lehigh Avenue on the afternoon of June 3. Police said Hilliard told them he didn’t know the victim, but chose him “out of convenience.”
Allegheny County Deputy District Attorney Jennifer DiGiovanni said Hilliard used synthetic marijuana and the tranquilizer K2 before he “viciously attacked” the man, stabbing him seven to eight times in the head, neck and chest. The man remains hospitalized at UPMC Presbyterian in Oakland, DiGiovanni said.
Hilliard initially posted $100,000 bond 10 days after the attack to get out of jail, court records show. His father, Thomas Hilliard of West Orange, N.J., paid his bond in cash, court records show.
The former college student has family in New Jersey but chose to return June 13 to his apartment near the Chatham University campus, DiGiovanni said.
“He remains an absolute danger to the community (for) an extraordinarily violent incident,” she said.
About a dozen Shadyside residents gathered in District Judge Edward J. Borkowski’s Downtown courtroom Thursday to voice concerns about Hilliard being out of jail.
“The nature of the crime, this really violent crime, that’s what has us on edge,” Virginia Flaherty outside Borkowski’s courtroom. “We really are a tight-knit neighborhood and we don’t tolerate crime.”
“We’ve all become the victims, the neighborhood,” said Lisa Seguin, who has lived off Highland Avenue in Shadyside for 44 years.
“We appreciate District Attorney Steve Zappala’s office for bringing this back and recognizing the danger he is to the neighborhood,” Flaherty said.
Jack Flaherty, Virginia’s 97-year-old father, said he came to court to support the stabbing victim, who he knew from his frequent walks around the neighborhood.
“He was known by everybody,” he said. “This guy represented our neighborhood.”
Borkowski ordered Hilliard to undergo a psychiatric evaluation while in jail, according to attorney Frank Walker, who represents the young man.
Walker said he “absolutely” will pursue trying to get Hilliard out of jail after that evaluation.
“It’s a tough case, tough allegations, but I respectfully disagree,” Walker told the Tribune-Review after he heard Borkowski’s decision. “He could have been placed on electronic monitoring … he’s still innocent until proven guilty and that’s just lost on a lot of people.”
Walker said it would be in everyone’s best interest for Hilliard to seek psychiatric treatment while staying with his parents in New Jersey.
Police said Hilliard admitted to stabbing the man with a culinary knife and told investigators he chose the victim “out of convenience.” After the stabbing, police said, Hilliard broke into a Shadyside home to wash off blood from the attack and left behind a bloody polo shirt. Police said Hilliard’s jeans were covered in blood when they questioned him.
A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Monday.