Man pleads guilty to murder in shooting death of Pittsburgh high school student

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — A 19-year-old young man pleaded guilty on Wednesday to third-degree murder in the death of a 15-year-old Oliver Citywide Academy student last year.

Eugene Watson pleaded guilty to third-degree murder, among other charges, on Wednesday in connection with the death of Marquis Campbell, who was fatally shot in January 2022 while sitting inside a school van outside Oliver Citywide Academy. 

According to the criminal complaint, surveillance video showed Watson walking near the school van before law enforcement said he shot twice into the van’s partially opened window, hitting Campbell. He was taken to a local hospital, where he later died. 

After the shooting, those who knew Campbell told KDKA-TV that the teenager was known for his smile and positive spirit. Pittsburgh Public Schools Superintendent Wayne Walters previously said the 15-year-old was a student at the school since the third grade.

Watson, who was 17 at the time of the shooting and charged as an adult, will be sentenced on Jan. 24, 2024. His brother, Brandon, was initially charged as an adult with homicide in connection with the case, but the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported that those charges were withdrawn and he was adjudicated delinquent in juvenile court on one conspiracy count.

Pittsburgh Oliver Citywide Academy is a “full-time special education center serving grades 3-12,” according to the district’s website. It’s described as “a highly structured school with a school-wide behavioral management system to support the positive behavioral support plans for each student.”