Reserve man who shot girlfriend in front of her children gets 8 years in prison

A Reserve man who shot a woman three times in front of her young children will spend at least eight years in prison.

Joseph Hogg, 37, was sentenced Thursday by Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge Randal B. Todd after he pleaded guilty in April to attempted homicide, aggravated assault, burglary and reckless endangerment.

A criminal complaint filed in the case said Hogg and the victim, Brenna Richards, 30, had been in an on-and-off-again relationship when he shot her on May 2, 2021.

He called 911 to report that he had shot Richards at an apartment on Spring Garden Avenue, the complaint said.

When officers arrived, they found that Richards had been shot in her face, arm and leg in front of her two children, who were 6 and 9 years old at the time.

Hogg fled the scene and was found a short time later by Pittsburgh police in Fineview.

During questioning, police said he admitted what he’d done. He told police that after he left the house, he threw the 9 mm handgun he used and a holster for it out the window of his car while driving on Williams Road.

Investigators said they found that the front door of the apartment had been damaged, and the lock was broken. Three spent casings were found in Richards’ bedroom.

In her victim impact statement, Richards told the judge that she was crouched on the floor covering her face when she was shot, and that her children had to have her blood cleaned off of them after they tried to help her.