Man acquitted in 1998 killing outside store

PITTSBURGH (AP) — A Pennsylvania man accused of killing a man outside a convenience store 13 years ago has been acquitted after two witnesses who claimed he pulled the trigger recanted their testimony.

The Allegheny County jury found 36-year-old Nathaniel Levitt not guilty Monday in the 1998 shooting death of Fred Sherrill.

Investigators claimed Levitt shot and killed Sherrill outside a Wilkinsburg convenience store because they were members of rival gangs in Pittsburgh.

Levitt was only charged last year because prosecutors said the two witnesses were reluctant to testify. But last week they recanted their stories on the witness stand.

Prosecutors suggested the witnesses feared for their safety.