Maybe You Should Decorate Early: Christmas Tree Takes a Bullet for Family

You know those people who put their Christmas trees up way too early?  The ones who have their trees up along side the pumpkin and harvest decorations at Thanksgiving?

Maybe we shouldn’t scoff at them anymore. In the case of a Jeannette, Pennsylvania family, that premature holiday decorating spree may have just saved a life.

When a 36 year old fired 8 shots and hit a woman during a drive-by shooting in Westmoreland County on Tuesday night, a stray bullet found its way into Tina Smorey’s house.

North First Street in Jeannette is a quiet stretch lined with big old houses, many of them decorated for the holiday season, but Tuesday around 10:30 p.m., the silence was broken.

According to police, 35-year-old Dionne Lee McKelvin is accused of shooting a woman in the arm and chest during a drive-by shooting.

Her name and condition are unknown, but we do know police had McKelvin in custody less than 10 minutes after the shooting after he was identified by eyewitnesses.

Tina Smorey’s house was hit by a stray bullet.

It went through the front of the house, coming out in her living room wall and hitting the Christmas tree.

She told KDKA’s Brenda Waters: “I was sitting on my couch and I heard six to eight loud pops. If the tree wasn’t there, we would have had that couch right under the windows; but ironically, we put the tree up early this year.” (source)

The suspected shooter was arrested immediately. Dionne Lee McKelvin has been charged with attempted murder and illegal possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.  He is being held on $500,000 bond at the Westmoreland County Prison.