New Kensington shooting victim refuses to testify; charges withdrawn

New Kensington Detective Lt. Jim Klein climbed up and down the emotional spectrum from anger to disgust to frustration Friday.

Frustration finally took hold as Klein sat in his office discussing how, about an hour before, police were forced to withdraw charges against two New Kensington men accused of trying to kill a third city man.

You feel like you've had your heart ripped out, and now you're fearful of what might happen next if this beef hasn't been settled, Klein said.

This is not on us, Klein said firmly. We're doing our job.

He said the charges were dropped because the shooting victim, Jadrian Race Toochy Wade, refused to testify, Klein said. We were even exploring the possibility of giving him immunity.

He said that was because Wade, 21, had indicated he would invoke his Fifth Amendment rights against self-incrimination if he testified.

But we were advised by Mr. Wade's attorney that he wasn't even able to meet with Mr. Wade to discuss what he was seeking immunity for, Klein said.

When we were at the magistrate's a couple of weeks ago, the victim had an attorney, and the attorney advised me the cIient would not testify on Fifth Amendment grounds, said Westmoreland County Assistant District Attorney Larry Koenig. In other words, him testifying might incriminate him on other matters, including the shooting, itself. He did not tell myself or Detective Klein that himself, but his attorney did, and we had to respect that.

Wade's attorney, Fred Rabner of Pittsburgh, did not return a Valley News Dispatch reporter's call seeking comment for this story.

A Woodmont Avenue resident, Wade was shot three times in Proctor Alley around 1:30 a.m. on Aug. 3.

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New Kensington shooting victim refuses to testify; charges withdrawn