{"id":319323,"date":"2026-11-02T07:14:19","date_gmt":"2026-11-02T07:14:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/319323\/"},"modified":"2026-11-02T07:14:19","modified_gmt":"2026-11-02T07:14:19","slug":"2-men-charged-in-duquesne-heights-killing-after-2-year-investigation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/319323\/","title":{"rendered":"2 men charged in Duquesne Heights killing after 2-year investigation"},"content":{"rendered":"

PITTSBURGH \u2014 Pittsburgh police have filed charges against two men in connection with the May 17, 2024, killing<\/a> of Justin Ruff and the aggravated assault of another man who sought help at a Duquesne Heights home after being shot.<\/p>\n

Jack Castronovo said he will never forget the night a man came running to his home on Plymouth Street, banging on his front door and asking for help. Castronovo\u2019s doorbell camera captured the encounter.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn two and a half years, I have been asked about 300 times what happened that night,\u201d Castronovo said.<\/p>\n

Castronovo helped the wounded man, and his wife called 911, according to his account of the incident.<\/p>\n

Investigators later determined that another man, Justin Ruff, had been murdered.<\/p>\n

More than two years later, police have charged Romar Watts and Ronald Vahosky in connection with the aggravated assault of the man captured on Castronovo\u2019s doorbell camera and Ruff\u2019s killing.<\/p>\n

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Jack Castronovo Doorbell video from Jack Castronovo’s home in Pittsburgh’s Duquesne Heights neighborhood shows a man supposedly asking for help early Friday, May 17, 2024. <\/p>\n

Investigators used several pieces of evidence in the case, including cell phone records, DNA recovered from a headlamp one of the men allegedly wore, ballistics evidence and surveillance video showing a truck associated with one of the suspects arriving at and leaving the scene, according to the investigation.<\/p>\n

Castronovo said he is relieved the case has progressed rather than remaining unsolved.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s good to know that it didn\u2019t turn into a long cold case where years go by, and nobody knows what\u2019s going on,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He said the charges bring an end to years of uncertainty, though he stopped short of calling it closure.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know if I want to use the word closure. But there\u2019s an ending to it. Something that has been a question in our heads for 2.5 years, and now there is finally an end to it, and hopefully justice will be served,\u201d Castronovo said.<\/p>\n

Castronovo added that he was saddened by the violence.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s unfortunate. God knows I hate to see anything like that ever happen to anyone,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Pittsburgh police are actively searching for Watts and Vahosky, according to the report. The investigation remains ongoing.<\/p>\n

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