An Arnold man who admitted to fatally shooting a home intruder in self-defense was sentenced Friday to serve up to 17 years in prison because he wasn’t allowed to own guns.
Malique Jamal Black, 26, pleaded guilty in October to weapons and drug charges in three cases dating to 2022 in which prosecutors said he sold drugs and illegally possessed guns. One weapon, a stolen .45-caliber Glock handgun, was used in the Jan. 12, 2024, self-defense shooting of Allen L. Austin Jr., 29.
Austin was shot after he broke into Black’s Fourth Avenue home, where nearly $40,000 in cash and illegal drugs were kept, police said.
Black, according to court records, claimed he grabbed a gun after he heard glass break while he and friends were upstairs playing video games. Black told investigators he shot an unknown intruder as he came up the stairs.
Westmoreland County District Attorney Nicole Ziccarelli declined to pursue homicide charges against Black and determined the shooting was justified.
Witnesses said Austin was not alone when he broke into Black’s home, but no one else has been charged in connection with the fatal shooting.