From Nonprofit Leader to Fatal Pursuit: The Final Hours of Deshawn Leeth

On April 4, 2025, an Ohio trooper approached a man, now identified as 30-year-old Deshawn Leeth, who had crashed his vehicle on the side of the turnpike near the state line. After about 20 seconds, the man starts to run away. When he comes back toward the cruiser, the trooper uses a Taser, but it did not work and a fight begins. The video shows punches being exchanged, and at one point, Leeth gets the trooper on the ground. He was able to overpower the trooper, climbing on top of him and knocking his body camera loose. Bystanders attempted to de-escalate the situation.

Leeth then runs away and takes off in the trooper's cruiser, triggering a multi-agency response. The pursuit came to a halt in North Sewickley, Pennsylvania, when Leeth crashed the stolen cruiser. Video from the scene shows Pennsylvania State Troopers attempting to restrain him as he resisted arrest. Ppolice said an altercation took place, and investigators fatally shot Leeth . Police have not said whether Leeth had a weapon. Prison records show he pleaded guilty to nine home invasion charges across two cases that date back to 2012. When he got in 2023, he became the executive director of a non-profit focused on helping at-risk kids and preventing teen violence.