Jaymier Perry faces 35 years to life for killing Derrick Harris Jr. outside Oliver Citywide Academy.
PITTSBURGH, Pa. — An 18-year-old Pittsburgh man pleaded guilty Wednesday to first-degree murder in the 2023 shooting death of a 15-year-old classmate outside Oliver Citywide Academy.
Jaymier Perry was 15 when police said he shot Derrick Harris Jr. on the school’s front steps on May 24, 2023. Prosecutors said the killing followed a dispute over Beats headphones that Perry said Harris had taken two days earlier. Perry is scheduled to be sentenced July 29 in Allegheny County Common Pleas Court.
The plea calls for a sentence of 35 years to life in prison. First-degree murder normally carries a mandatory life sentence without parole in Pennsylvania, but Perry was a juvenile at the time of the shooting. Two firearms charges were withdrawn, and the homicide case moved forward through the plea to first-degree murder. Judge Jaime Hickton is set to impose the sentence.
Police said officers were sent to Oliver Citywide Academy at about 7:25 a.m. after gunfire was detected near the school in Pittsburgh’s Marshall-Shadeland neighborhood. Officers found Harris shot multiple times outside the front entrance and began CPR and first aid. Medics took him to a hospital in critical condition, and he later died at Allegheny General Hospital.
Authorities said gunfire detection technology recorded 11 rounds. Allegheny County Deputy District Attorney Ryan Kiray said in court that Harris was hit 10 times. Prosecutors said surveillance video showed Perry approach Harris on the steps, shoot him, then return to kick and stomp him while he was on the ground before leaving.
Kiray said Perry brought his mother’s 9 mm handgun to school that morning. Police said responding officers saw Perry running from the area with a firearm and took him into custody without further incident. The weapon was recovered. Perry later told detectives he knew he and Harris were often among the first students to arrive at school, prosecutors said.
During questioning, prosecutors said Perry told detectives he killed Harris because Harris had taken his headphones two days earlier. “The defendant shot Harris until the gun was empty,” Kiray said in court. Kiray said Perry also told detectives, “If you’re going to shoot someone, you may as well finish the job,” then laughed about the shooting.
Oliver Citywide Academy served students from across Pittsburgh in grades three through 12, with all students having individualized education plans. After the shooting, the school moved to remote learning for a period. District leaders later advanced a plan that effectively closed the school and moved students to other sites as part of a broader special education shift.
The killing added to concern around violence tied to the school. In January 2022, another 15-year-old student, Marquis Campbell, was fatally shot in a school van outside Oliver Citywide Academy after dismissal. That earlier case also led to adult charges against a teen defendant. District leaders later said the school model was not meeting goals for students with disabilities.
Harris’ family remembered him as a kindhearted son and brother whose smile and humor brought love to those around him. His death drew grief from relatives and classmates while investigators built the criminal case. Perry, now an adult, appeared in court Wednesday as prosecutors read the facts of the shooting into the record.
Perry remains set for sentencing July 29. The plea agreement would make him eligible for parole after 35 years, but the final sentence rests with Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge Jaime Hickton.
Author note: Last updated June 26, 2026.