Crime & Safety

Man No-Show at Forest Hills District Court Killed in Pittsburgh

Donald Cheeks didn't show for his hearing before District Judge Thomas Caulfield Wednesday—and it wasn't that he jumped bail.

Forest Hills police wondered why Donald Cheeks didn't show up Wednesday for his preliminary hearing in district court on gun and drug charges stemming from a traffic stop on Oct. 9.

Cheeks had posted bail $50,000, so they had expected him to be in court.

Then they found out why he didn't make it—he was in the Allegheny County Morgue instead.

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Cheeks died at UPMC Presbyterian hospital in Oakland after being shot in the Lincoln-Lemington neighborhood of Pittsburgh on Tuesday.

The Tribune-Review reported that Cheeks, 49, of Larimer was shot in the head and chest just before 9 p.m. in the 6600 block of Deary Street in the Lincoln-Lemington neighborhood of Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh police Chief Nate Harper said Cheeks might have been involved in a drug deal gone bad or a robbery for drugs.

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Cheeks was taken to UPMC Presbyterian Hospital where he later died, according to WPXI-TV.

Cheeks had been scheduled for a preliminary hearing before District Judge Thomas Caulfield on Wednesday but Cheeks never showed.

Forest Hills police had charged Cheeks with receiving stolen property, persons not to possess firearms, firearms not to be carried without a license, possession with intent to deliver, possession, prohibited acts-drug paraphernalia and a small amount of marijuana, driving the wrong way, minimum speed regulations and careless driving after uncovering drugs and a gun during a traffic stop Oct. 9.

That Cheeks died in a gun and drug-related incident isn't a surprise, Forest Hills police Chief Chuck Williams said on Thursday morning, given what a "simple traffic stop" turned up.

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