\n\t\t\t\t\t\tHoward Hawkins has been found guilty of first-degree murder in the 2021 shooting death of 18-year-old Ahmir Tuli.Tuli was shot and killed in February 2021 outside his family\u2019s Strip District restaurant, Preeti\u2019s Pitt. A jury has found Hawkins guilty on all counts including first-degree murder and carrying a firearm without a license.During last week’s closing arguments, both sides focused on the shooter\u2019s identity. The district attorney\u2019s office argued that the shooter, captured in blurry surveillance video, couldn\u2019t have been anyone else but Hawkins, while Hawkins\u2019 defense attorney said it was not him, and they accused the wrong person.In that video played for the jurors in court, a man is seen leaving the Penn Avenue restaurant. He walks to a car parked on the street, then immediately back to the bar entrance where Tuli was standing, and shoots him.Deputy District Attorney Sarah Weikart said the shooter was Hawkins and recounted testimony that detailed Hawkins\u2019 path after getting kicked out of the bar as well as the use of his girlfriend\u2019s car. She detailed testimony and video which showed the car driving away from the bar moments after the shooting, then on the same path as Hawkins\u2019 phone minutes later, just blocks away.Defense attorney Casey White argued that the shooter was not Hawkins, saying the initial descriptions of the shooter were based on third-party information, and that a key witness in the case gave conflicting descriptions. Howard Hawkins’ first trial ended in a mistrial last year after a witness referenced his previous criminal record during testimony.\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\tPITTSBURGH \u2014 \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
Howard Hawkins has been found guilty of first-degree murder in the 2021 shooting death of 18-year-old Ahmir Tuli.<\/p>\n