Court records say the accused woman and her former partner still shared a home.
HERMITAGE, Pa. — A fatal shooting outside a Lowe’s in northwestern Pennsylvania began with a recent breakup and a meeting in a parking lot, police said in court records.
The accused woman, 32-year-old Taneesha Lynn Teague, had ended a relationship with her former girlfriend about a month before the shooting, but the two still lived together, according to reports on the criminal complaint. Police said Teague followed the woman and her daughter to the Lowe’s on Glimcher Boulevard, where the woman met 36-year-old Salim Basalat. Basalat was shot and later died, and Teague now faces a first-degree murder charge.
The relationship history gives the case its central timeline. Teague and her former girlfriend remained in the same residence after their breakup, a situation investigators say preceded the deadly encounter. On May 25, the former girlfriend went to the Lowe’s parking lot with her young daughter. Basalat was outside his vehicle speaking with them when Teague arrived, according to the complaint. Reports citing the filing say Teague became upset when she saw Basalat. Police said she got out with a loaded handgun and fired multiple times. During the 911 call, dispatchers could hear a woman in the background warning someone to move or “she would die too.”
The former girlfriend has been identified in one local report as Tiffany Ray Sutton, 32. She is not accused of a crime in the available reports. Police said Basalat was hit in the arm and abdomen while the girl was nearby. Local reports differ on the child’s exact age, with some describing her as 9 and one as 8. Officials have not publicly resolved that difference. They also have not said whether Sutton or the child had physical injuries. The complaint’s account places them close enough to the shooting that Teague also faces three counts of recklessly endangering another person.
Basalat was taken from the shopping center to a hospital and was pronounced dead around 10 a.m. May 26. His death changed the case from an attempted homicide investigation to a homicide prosecution. Court records list first-degree murder, criminal homicide, aggravated assault and reckless endangerment counts. Prosecutors will likely use the alleged sequence of events to argue intent: following the former partner, arriving at the meeting, leaving the vehicle with a gun and firing at Basalat. Defense attorneys may challenge parts of that account, including witness memory, the meaning of Teague’s actions or the completeness of the evidence gathered after the shooting.
The public search for Teague unfolded after the shooting. Hermitage police said they were looking for a white Nissan work van believed to have been driven by her. They released the Pennsylvania license plate ZYB-3944 and warned that Teague should be considered armed and dangerous. Officers later found the van near a KFC close to the Lowe’s, but Teague was not inside. She surrendered at the Hermitage Police Department just before 1 p.m. May 26, authorities said. That surrender ended the immediate public safety alert but did not end the evidence-gathering stage of the investigation.
The Lowe’s parking lot became the setting where personal conflict, public space and criminal procedure crossed. Retail parking lots often have cameras, vehicle traffic and witnesses, all of which can help investigators build a case. Police are expected to examine where the vehicles were parked, where shell casings were found, how far Teague was from Basalat when shots were fired and whether store or nearby business video captured the encounter. Available reports do not say whether police recovered the gun, whether Teague made statements after turning herself in or whether there were earlier police calls involving the people in the case.
The court process will now focus less on the breakup and more on what prosecutors can prove. At a preliminary hearing, prosecutors must show enough evidence for the case to proceed. Witnesses may be asked about what they saw in the lot, what they heard before and after the shooting and how they identified Teague. Police may testify about the 911 call, the van, the search and the evidence collected at the scene. The first-degree murder count requires proof tied to intent, while the reckless endangerment counts focus on the alleged risk to others near the gunfire.
Hermitage is in Mercer County, about 75 miles from Cleveland, and the shooting drew attention across western Pennsylvania and nearby Ohio news markets. The case also stood out because it involved a child at the scene and a victim who was meeting someone in an ordinary retail lot. The complaint’s known facts do not fill every gap. It remains unclear what was said before the gunfire, whether the meeting at Lowe’s was planned to avoid a confrontation elsewhere, and whether the former partners had discussed the new relationship before Teague arrived.
Teague’s preliminary arraignment was scheduled for May 27, and further Mercer County court dates are expected as prosecutors move the case forward. She is presumed innocent unless proven guilty, and the investigation remains active as officials prepare the homicide case.
Author note: Last updated June 22, 2026.