Pittsburgh killer Darion Abel told cop he ‘just shot my girlfriend 17 times’

An alleged murderer told a police officer, “I just shot my girlfriend 17 times,” after killing his teenage lover at her home, a judge in Pennsylvania heard Monday.

Darion Abel, 27, “opened fire on [girlfriend] Miranda Grimm-Gilarski at close range and did not stop shooting until the gun was empty,” Allegheny County Assistant District Attorney Alexa Roberts told jurors during opening remarks at a Pittsburgh courtroom on Monday morning, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reported.

“A person does not shoot another individual 17 or 18 times without intending for that person to die,” she added.

Grimm-Gilarski was just 19 years old when she was allegedly shot dead by the then-20-year-old Abel at her Munhall home outside Pittsburgh on Nov. 17, 2018.

Abel then drove into the Munhall Police parking lot, approached Officer Jason Poniewaz and said he was there to turn himself in, according to a criminal complaint reported by CBS News at the time.

Asked what he was turning himself in for, Abel replied, “Murder. I just shot my girlfriend 17 times” — and told the cop the alleged weapon was on the front seat of his car, according to the original complaint.

Abel was charged with homicide, burglary and carrying a 9 mm pistol without a license almost seven years ago after Grimm-Gilarski’s body was found on her living room floor with multiple gunshot wounds.

Several holes were found in the floor underneath the victim’s body, and projectiles were recovered from the basement ductwork, indicating that Abel continued firing rounds while Grimm-Gilarski’s body lay on the ground, according to the complaint.

He has been held without bail ever since, and his jury trial has been rescheduled almost 20 times since 2019, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reported.

The couple’s year-long relationship had been violent, and the pair had assaulted each other multiple times, the most recent one being on Oct. 30, 2018.

After his arrest, Abel allegedly told officers he had received a notice in the mail requiring him to appear in court in connection with the alleged assault and became upset. He called Grimm-Gilarski, and the two got into an argument.

He then retrieved a 9 mm pistol, loaded it and drove to Grimm-Gilarski’s home while still arguing over the phone with her, according to the criminal complaint.

Abel told police he kicked her locked door in and found her in the living room. She put her hand up and said “No,” at which point, the suspect said he didn’t remember anything but a bang, according to the criminal complaint.

His defense attorney is not denying that he shot his girlfriend dead, but says that his client was “sent … over the edge” by the court order he received on the day of the shooting.

“This is not a whodunit. I’m not asking you to find him not guilty. I’m asking you to find him guilty but mentally ill,” Attorney Patrick Thomassey told the jury, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reported.

He will present as a witness a psychiatrist who evaluated Abel in 2022 and again in April this year, and is set to describe his “diminished capacity” during the shooting.

Prosecutors plan to call multiple witnesses, including Officer Poniewaz and Grimm-Gilarski’s stepsister, who was only 11 at the time of the deadly shooting.