Suspect in Pitt student’s killing pleads in Myrtle Beach

PITTSBURGH (AP) — A man charged with killing a University of Pittsburgh student in her off-campus apartment has pleaded guilty to charges in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, where he was arrested on the Pennsylvania homicide warrant.

Twenty-one-year-old Matthew Darby’s plea Tuesday to loitering and false information charges clears the way for his extradition to Pittsburgh to face the charge that he killed 20-year-old Alina Sheykhet on Oct. 8.

Pittsburgh police believe Darby killed the woman, his ex-girlfriend, using a claw hammer and two knives before fleeing to South Carolina. He was arrested there when a witness reportedly saw Darby tampering with a window at a residence early Oct. 11.

Darby was sentenced to time served for the South Carolina charges.

His attorney has called the homicide charge “serious,” but did not comment on its particulars.