Pennsylvania man will serve life in prison for 2016 home-invasion murder

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    LANCASTER COUNTY, PA (WPMT) — A Lancaster County man convicted in March for killing Dennis Pitch during a 2016 home invasion in Salisbury Township will spend the rest of his life in prison after a sentencing hearing Monday, according to the Lancaster County District Attorney’s Office.

Christopher J. Lyles was found guilty of second-degree murder, robbery, and related offenses in what Lancaster County President Judge David Ashworth called a “cold-blooded, ruthless, and senseless killing.”

Ashworth ordered a sentence of life in prison without possibility of parole, plus 12 1/2 to 40 years for Lyles, who broke into Pitch’s home with three accomplices on the night of Dec. 2, 2016.

Assistant District Attorney Mark Fetterman said Pitch was an “everyday person, a working man” who was resting in his bed when the intruders broke into his Timothy Drive home.

“Dennis Pitch could be any one of us,” Fetterman said. “The only mistake he made… was mentioning he had some money.”

And that is what Lyles and three accomplices conspired to take from Pitch, 52.

Brandon Bills, Kristopher Smith and Michael Baker also are charged. Their cases are pending, the DA’s office said.

Ashworth, while ordering sentence, pointed to Lyles’ extensive criminal history, which includes seven prior appearances in court for separate matters.

Lyles is also an “admitted member of a prison gang,” the judge said, referring to a pre-sentence investigation report.

“This was a not a crime of passion; this was a crime of deliberation,” Ashworth said.

Pennsylvania State Police Trooper Jonathan Potoka filed charges. He attended the sentencing.

Among the evidence presented at Lyles’ trial was:

Testimony from co-defendant Bills, who was with the group before and after the home invasion and stayed at the vehicle.
Testimony about cellphone locations that tracked the group and placed them at or around Pitch’s home at the time of the murder.
Testimony from a prison inmate who overheard Lyles discussing the murder.
Surveillance video footage of Smith’s vehicle near Pitch’s home around the time of the murder.

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