ALLENTOWN, Pa. – A man has been found guilty of shooting and killing another man in Allentown in 2022, and of trying to convince a witness not to testify.
Steven M. Rosa, 32, was convicted Thursday of first-degree homicide and carrying a firearm without a license, according to a news release from the Lehigh County District Attorney’s Office.
The DA’s office said a jury convicted Rosa in the killing of Tywon Deleva Abner, 33, of Allentown. Rosa shot and killed Abner in the 500 block of West Allen Street on July 28, 2022, according to the DA’s office.
A conviction for first-degree murder in Pennsylvania requires a mandatory sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole, according to the news release.
In a separate case tried together with the homicide, Rosa was convicted of felony counts of witness intimidation and criminal use of a communications facility, the DA’s office said.
That case arose out of Rosa’s efforts to intimidate a person who had information about the homicide, according to the DA’s office.
While in Lehigh County Jail, Rosa used a computer tablet in an effort to convince the witness not to testify, according to the news release.
The DA’s office said Rosa is also serving a state prison sentence following a conviction for a robbery which happened after the murder.
According to the DA’s office, Allentown police responded to reports of a shooting on July 28, 2022 and found Abner with a gunshot wound.
Police and paramedics administered emergency aid, but Abner died at a local hospital, the DA’s office said.
The DA’s office said the Lehigh County coroner ruled that Abner died from a gunshot wound to the chest and his death was ruled a homicide.
Rosa remains in Lehigh County Jail with no bail on the homicide case, according to the news release.