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Elizabeth Twp. Man Shot Dead; Teen Daughter Accused

POSTED: 11:45 am EDT July 30, 2007
UPDATED: 9:25 am EDT July 31, 2007

A 13-year-old girl was arrested and charged with homicide Monday, hours after her father was fatally shot at the family's Elizabeth Township home.

Matthew Booth, 34, was found shot in the head at about 2:20 a.m. at a home on Pitt Street, near Boston Hollow Road, Allegheny County police said. (See Map)

Booth's body was face-up on a mattress near the front door of the home, with a fatal wound from a 12-gauge shotgun, police said.

"I heard somebody scream, so I went outside to check and see what it was," said neighbor Crystal Reffner. "I heard a girl screaming, so I went in the house, and I called police."

The girl admitted being the shooter, according to a police affidavit, but police have not discussed a possible motive.

Neighbors said the girl told them that her father had sexually abused her for years. The girl's mother -- Michelle Fazek, of McKeesport -- also said the child had been abused. That allegation, however, wasn't made during a custody battle over the girl last year.

WTAE Channel 4 Action News is not identifying the girl, who is being charged as an adult and held in the county jail without bail, pending a psychological evaluation.

Police said the girl and her 14-year-old brother lived with their father, who was separated from Fazek.

Fazek said her daughter attended cyberschool.

The house, which the family shared with an array of animals, was in deplorable condition, police said.

"They had a number of animals, dogs, cats and rabbits. They hadn't cleaned up after them," said James Morton, assistant superintendent of county police.

Fazek said she complained several times to county child welfare officials about the conditions of the home.

Messages left by the Associated Press for the county's Office of Children, Youth and Families were not immediately returned Monday.


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