Texas Man Held for Trial in North Strabane Shooting

A Texas man charged last week with shooting a coworker after an altercation in a North Strabane welding shop was ordered to stand trial Wednesday.

District Judge Joshua P. Kanalis held Danny Keith Kirtley, 48, on homicide and assault charges after a preliminary hearing in Central Court in Washington.

Kirtley is originally from Texas and has been living in Mt. Pleasant, Westmoreland County, for the past few months. He had been working at Rosenbloom Welding for a few weeks prior to the incident.

Assistant District Attorney Mike Lucas called two witnesses -- forensic pathologist Leon Rozin and the foreman of the welding shop in which the shooting took place. Rozin testified that Kirtley's coworker, Trevor Compton, had died from a single gunshot wound to the torso.

Then a shop foreman, Christopher Goss, testified that he witnessed the altercation and saw Kirtley fire the shot that killed Compton. Goss said he was finishing up some welding Thursday at the 72 Wilson Road when he noticed that Kirtley and another coworker were embroiled in an argument. He said that Kirtley had wrapped himself around the other man, who was trying to beat him off with his left hand, Goss said.

Goss said that when he went to break the fight up, the other coworker, Roy Mall, ran from the building as Kirtley attempted to regain his footing.

"Danny was kicking on the floor and slipping and trying to get up," he said, adding that the concrete floor was wet from a leaky roof.

A few minutes later, Goss said he heard Compton tell Kirtley to stay on the floor. Then Goss said he saw Kirtley reach into his shirt or waistband and pull out a gun.

"I seen the gun go off," he testified Wednesday.

That's when Goss said he and a coworker called 911 and attempted to get Compton out of the building and into a truck before dispatch advised them to wait for medics who were on the way.

When police arrived, officers discovered Compton lying in a grey truck outside the building, according to a Canonsburg Police report.

According to that complaint, Compton was taken by ambulance to Canonsburg General Hospital, where he was pronounced dead about an hour later. Kirtley was airlifted to Allegheny General Hospital, where he remained until escorted to North Strabane to be arraigned Friday.

The Canonsburg report indicated that when officers went inside they found a silver .380 handgun and blood stain on the floor.

“The shooter was laying on the ground on top of a broom and he appeared to have also been shot possibly,” the report stated. “He did have injuries to his eye an also a large lump coming from his skull on top of his head.”

It was not clear from testimony how Kirtley suffered the head injuries, and Lucas said after the hearing that he could not speculate.