Man found guilty in nightclub shooting

Three witnesses identified the defendant as the shooter.

STAFF REPORT

NEW CASTLE, Pa. — A man accused of shooting three people in a nightclub was found guilty of most charges stemming from the shooting.

A jury found Willie Claren Harden Jr., 21, of Philadelphia, guilty of one of two counts of attempted homicide for shooting Jory Malone, 26, of New Castle during a private party at the Elks Club on Home Street the night of March 14.

He was found innocent of attempted homicide in the shooting of Michael Harris, 40, who was visiting in town from California. Harris was shot four times in the back as he tried to help a security guard break up a fight that preceded the shooting.

Harden was found guilty of aggravated assault in the shooting of Harris, and also of aggravated assault in the shooting of Malone.

He was found innocent of aggravated assault in the shooting of Sherry Huddleston, 44, of New Castle, who was sitting at the bar when the shooting started. She was shot in the knee.

Harden was found guilty of reckless endangering in Huddleston’s shooting. He was found guilty on three charges of simple assault and on eight counts of discharging a firearm into an occupied structure.

The jury returned its verdict after deliberating 21‚Ñ2 hours.

The trial began Tuesday in Lawrence County Court of Common Pleas.

Harden’s attorney, John Elash of Pittsburgh, had argued during the trial that three witnesses who positively identified Harden as the shooter, including Huddleston, could have easily been mistaken in the panic that followed the shots. Fifty or 60 people were in the bar at the time.

He also said there was no physical evidence linking Harden to the fight or the shooting.

Assistant District Attorney Daniel Soom argued, however, that the three witnesses were positive in their identification of Harden, never hesitating.

Witnesses who were in the club that night said the shooter walked up toward the bar from the back of the room firing, and stood over Malone to continue shooting him as he lay wounded on the floor.

New Castle police Sgt. Kevin Seelbaugh, who investigated the case, said something prompted a fight that night between Malone and a friend of Harden’s. When Malone seemed to be winning the fight, Harden started shooting, Seelbaugh said.

Harden will be sentenced in January.