Target of deadly Pa. cookout ambush to stand trial in assault

WASHINGTON, Pa. (AP) — A man authorities say was targeted but only wounded in a cookout ambush that killed five adults and an unborn child in the Pittsburgh suburbs has been held for trial in an unrelated assault case.

Lamont Powell, 24, was ordered to stand trial Thursday on charges of aggravated and simple assault in a 2015 incident in which authorities say he attacked the ex-boyfriend of his sister.

Police say Powell forced the man to his knees at gunpoint and punch and kicked him in the face.

Twenty-nine-year-old Cheron Shelton and 27-year-old Robert Thomas were charged last month in the Wilkinsburg massacre on March 9. Allegheny County authorities say they wanted to kill Powell because they believe he killed Shelton’s best friend in 2013.