Hearing Postponed for Richland Man Charged With Killing Grandmother

The preliminary hearing for Levi Daniel Staver, who is charged with stabbing his grandmother to death at their Richland Township home, has been postponed.

Originally scheduled for Friday, the hearing has been postponed until June 7 before Judge Donna Jo McDaniel, according to court documents.

Staver, 26, is in the Allegheny County Jail; his bail request was denied.

Staver stabbed his grandmother in the back Tuesday morning as she and his grandfather were sitting at the kitchen table eating breakfast, Northern Regional Police Chief T. Robert Amman said.

Staver lived with his grandparents and mother at the home in the 3900 block of Gibsonia Road (Route 910). 

Visitation services for his grandmother, Connie (McCall) Johnston, will be held from 2 to 8 p.m. Sunday at Sperling Funeral Home in McCandless. Services will be held in private.

His grandfather, the Rev. David Johnston, is the pastor of Lifeline Community Church, which holds its Sunday services at the chapel in Sperling Funeral Home.

According to a criminal complaint filed by Allegheny County Police, Staver said he was sitting at the computer in his bedroom when the archangel directed him to “kill the witch”.

Staver told detectives that he made the sign of the cross, got dressed like a soldier, took a sword and said, “This thing has got to go”, the complaint states.

Allegheny County detectives said Staver used a large, black bowie knife, not a sword, the complaint states.

Staver was quoted as saying that if the archangels want him to do something, he does it, the complaint states.

When asked by detectives if he was employed, Staver said he was employed by the “angelic army”, under the direction of the archangel Michael, according to the complaint.

When speaking to reporters on the day of the homicide, Northern Regional's Amann said police have responded to the house previously, but he was not certain how many times. 

He said Staver had no major criminal background but was arrested about a month ago for retail theft in Cranberry Township.

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