Man who paralyzed Latrobe woman in Parkway East crash sentenced to 2 to 4 years

A Wilkinsburg man who was in the throes of mental illness last year when he went on a 75-minute crime spree, including stealing two cars, striking pedestrians and causing a crash that led to a Latrobe woman’s paralysis, will serve two to four years’ incarceration.

Derek Deleon Brown, 30, pleaded guilty in May to carjacking, causing accidents involving death or injury, aggravated assault by vehicle and reckless endangerment stemming from his crimes on May 9, 2021.

His defense attorney, Angela Carsia, asked Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge Thomas E. Flaherty to consider that, since then, Brown has completed a 30-day inpatient treatment program, an intensive outpatient program and is now on medication to control hallucinations and delusions he was having at the time.

“The man sitting next to me today would not do these things,” she said.

Carsia asked the judge to sentence her client to house arrest or a lengthy period of probation to allow him to continue to get better.

On Wednesday, Flaherty refused, telling Brown that some incarceration is necessary. He gave Brown until Aug. 19 to report to begin serving his time.

According to the criminal complaint, the night of destruction began about 3:30 a.m. May 9, 2021, when Brown stole a cellphone from a customer at Domino’s Pizza on Carson Street on the South Side.

About 15 minutes later, police said, Brown crashed the 2008 Chevy Trailblazer he had been driving into another truck at the Hot Metal Bridge and Second Avenue.

When the other driver exited his vehicle, Brown struck him with his Trailblazer, knocked him down and stole the man’s truck.

As he fled from there, Brown struck another pedestrian at Second Avenue near Bates Street, dragging the man a short distance. Then, minutes later, Brown tried to drive another woman off the road on Hazelwood Avenue, causing her to crash to avoid being struck by him, police said.

Brown then turned the truck he was driving around and headed at her car again, striking the passenger before crashing into the other car.

The woman driving had a firearm and fired several rounds at him before Brown fled in the truck.

Less than 10 minutes later, Brown drove into the parking lot of a Speedway gas station, crashed into the building and tried to run over a man who had been sitting on the curb.

Brown fled again, and just before 4:30 a.m., police said, caused a three-vehicle crash on the Parkway East near the Forest Hills exit, striking two other vehicles and causing one victim, Mary Carlson of Latrobe, catastrophic injuries.

While on scene, Brown flagged down another driver asking her to help. When she exited her car, police said, Brown stole it.

He was captured about 4:45 a.m. when Monroeville police were called to the Red Roof Inn for a report of stolen luggage. When officers arrived, they saw the stolen Nissan Altima from the Parkway in the parking lot.

Brown was registered in the hotel. When state troopers called his room and asked him to come out, he did and was taken into custody.

On Wednesday, Carsia told the court that Brown was suicidal the night of his crimes, and that he had been trying to self-medicate with alcohol.

Brown said his mental health had been devolving at that point for more than a year and a half, and that he had been in and out of UPMC Western Psychiatric Hospital once or twice a month during that time.

“I really, really wasn’t in my right mind at all,” he said.

Since then, though, he is being treated by psychiatrists and therapists and is on medication to control his symptoms.

“I just feel terrible about what happened,” Brown said. “If I could go back and change what I did, I definitely would. I’d rather be in her place. She didn’t deserve this.”

Carlson did not attend Wednesday’s hearing, but she submitted a victim impact statement.

She described her injuries, the impact they have had on her three children, who are 18, 14 and 11, and what her daily life is like now.

Carlson, who earned a master’s degree in psychology in July 2020, anticipated opening her own counseling practice, she wrote. Instead, she spends her days sitting in her wheelchair in her living room until it’s time to go to bed.

She leaves her home only to go to the doctor because getting around is too cumbersome.

Carlson, who suffered a broken neck in the crash, said she can’t feel from her chest down, has limited mobility in her arms and cannot feel or use her hands.

Despite having no feeling in her legs, she experiences excruciating hip pain.

Carlson, who used to enjoy hiking and hunting with her children, said she will never walk again, has a permanent catheter and is at constant risk of infection.

Her children have to help her in her daily routine, Carlson said, and have been stripped of their innocence.

“I am unable to do things for myself,” she said.

Although, Carlson continued, she puts on a smile for people who ask her how she is, the truth is very different.

She asked the court for the maximum possible sentence for Brown.

Assistant District Attorney Grant Olson told the court there were seven victims that night, but none so harmed as Carlson.

“Over the course of an hour, Mr. Brown engaged in destructive, abhorrent, violent behavior,” Olson said. “He’s going to be able to walk out of this courtroom, which Ms. Carlson will never be able to do again.”