A judge on Friday dismissed homicide charges against a McKeesport teenager, saying that DNA left on a hat at the crime scene last year wasn’t enough to send the case to trial.

Daemond Artemus, 18, who is awaiting trial in two other homicide cases, was charged earlier this month with the May 2024 slaying of Lyft driver Brandon Dean.

One key piece of evidence Assistant District Attorney Matthew Goddard presented during the preliminary hearing was a black baseball cap that was dropped at the scene.

According to the criminal complaint, footage from nearby home security cameras showed Mr. Dean pull to the intersection of Freemont and Palmgreen streets before four people came out of a home on Palmgreen. Investigators noted that the man who got into the front passenger seat of the car wore a b

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