It was all so pointless, the judge said.

Jaime Jones is dead. Bryan Perkins-Jiles is going to prison. All because the latter took offense to a joke Mr. Jones made — a joke about buying a round of energy drinks.

“It’s stupid,” Common Pleas Judge Elliott Howsie said Tuesday ahead of Perkins-Jiles’ sentencing for a 2023 homicide.

“Why are we here?” the judge asked. “Why is another young man dead? Because of some ribbing.”

Mr. Jones, a 31-year-old father of a young son, had been out with friends at a club early May 26, 2023. Perkins-Jiles, too, was out with friends at the same club. Shortly after last call, around 2 a.m., the two groups saw each other again outside Noble Mart in Swissvale.

Perkins-Jiles had driven to the convenience store. Mr. Jones and his friends walked. When their resp

See Full Page