PITTSBURGH (AP) -- Prosecutors in Pennsylvania say they plan to seek the death penalty against two men charged in an ambush at cookout that killed five adults and an unborn child.
The Allegheny County district attorneys' office on Friday filed notice of intent to seek capital punishment if 29-year-old Cheron Shelton and 27-year-old Robert Thomas are convicted of first-degree murder.
Prosecutors said the death penalty would be warranted because of the defendants' previous convictions, the multiple felonies alleged and the grave risk posed to others.
The men are accused of shooting up the March 9 cookout in Wilkinsburg, a suburb of Pittsburgh, while gunning for a man they believe killed Shelton's best friend in 2013. That man was wounded but survived.
Defense attorneys maintain that their clients are innocent.