White Oak Motorcycle Slaying Tied to Pagans-War Dogs Rivalry

WHITE OAK, Pa. — One of three men charged in the fatal shooting of a motorcyclist in White Oak last year pleaded guilty Monday to third-degree homicide and received a lengthy state prison sentence, while his two co-defendants accepted deals on lesser charges, closing a chapter in a violent feud between rival motorcycle clubs that began with a brutal bar brawl in Washington County.

Jacob Baker, 34, of Mount Pleasant, entered his plea to third-degree homicide in Allegheny County Common Pleas Court and was sentenced by Judge Simquita Bridges to 15 to 30 years in state prison. The sentence stems from the Oct. 12, 2025, attack that killed Kenneth Hayman, 33, of McKeesport. Two other defendants — Victor Cruz, 28, of Jeannette, and Albert Renchko, 38, of Wilmerding — pleaded guilty to lesser offenses as part of the same negotiated resolution with prosecutors. Cruz received five years of probation and 100 hours of community service after pleading guilty to aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. Renchko, who received credit for more than nine months already served, was ordered to serve four years of probation and complete 100 hours of community service.

Assistant District Attorney Matthew Goddard outlined the events of the fatal afternoon for the court. Around 2:15 p.m., Hayman was on his motorcycle at the intersection of Jacks Run Road and Lincoln Way when a Chevy Silverado pulled up behind him. Three men dressed in black and wearing ski masks climbed out of the truck and advanced toward him. At least one carried an axe handle. Hayman dismounted and tried to flee on foot. Both he and Baker drew firearms and exchanged shots. The attackers then fled the scene. Hayman collapsed near a nearby Wendy’s restaurant and later died from a gunshot wound to the torso.

Goddard told the court that a witness identified the three suspects. Cruz was behind the wheel of the pickup, Renchko sat in the front passenger seat, and Baker rode in the rear. Prosecutors said the men had conspired to attack Hayman because they believed he had participated in an assault two months earlier in Washington County. Investigators described a deliberate effort to track the victim, including switching license plates on the truck and destroying evidence afterward to conceal their movements.

The motive, authorities say, traces directly to a violent confrontation on the night of Aug. 17, 2025, at the 40 Bar and Grille in North Franklin Township. According to Washington County prosecutors, Hayman, a member of the War Dogs motorcycle club, was an “aggressor” in a melee that left a rival club member severely beaten. Jordan Henderson, identified as a member of the Pagans motorcycle club, was attacked inside the bar after midnight by at least 10 War Dogs members using bottles, bats and axe handles. The assault was so severe that Henderson’s face was left swollen, bloody and nearly unrecognizable, according to earlier court testimony in the Washington County case. Ten people were held for trial following a preliminary hearing in January 2026 on charges that included rioting and aggravated assault, though more serious racketeering counts were dismissed.

The sequence of events paints a picture of escalating retaliation between the two clubs. After the August bar fight, tension between the groups remained high. Prosecutors in the homicide case maintained that Baker, Cruz and Renchko acted on that lingering grievance when they targeted Hayman in White Oak less than two months later. The use of masks, an axe handle, a coordinated vehicle approach and subsequent efforts to erase their tracks underscored the planned nature of the attack, Goddard said.

Both Renchko and Baker addressed the court briefly after entering their pleas. “I do want to apologize to his daughter,” Renchko said. “That’s a terrible loss to lose your father. I do wish the circumstances were different.” Baker followed with a short statement of his own: “I’m sorry for what happened. If I could take it back, I would.” Cruz declined to speak.

The impact of Hayman’s death was laid out in emotional statements read and delivered in court. Brittany Koval, Hayman’s fiancée, provided a written statement that Goddard read aloud. She described Hayman as outgoing and devoted to being a father. “In an instant, everything we built together, and everything we built for the future was taken away,” Koval wrote. She called him her “safe place,” saying he made ordinary days feel special and left her feeling loved, protected and cared for. Their daughter was only nine months old when Hayman was killed. “As of today, he has been gone for half of her life,” Koval said. The child will never have her father present for the ordinary milestones of growing up — the first day of school, graduation or a wedding day. “Those memories were stolen from her before she even had the chance to keep them.”

Hayman’s aunt, Christine McKeone, also spoke. She told the judge that Hayman was like a son to her and that his death devastated the entire family.

The pleas and sentences resolve the Allegheny County homicide case against the three men. The separate Washington County prosecution stemming from the August 2025 bar brawl continues, with multiple defendants still facing trial on remaining charges of rioting and aggravated assault. That case has already produced extensive testimony about the rivalry between the War Dogs and the Pagans, two clubs with a history of territorial friction in western Pennsylvania.

The White Oak shooting and the earlier North Franklin brawl together illustrate how quickly disputes between outlaw motorcycle clubs can escalate from a barroom confrontation into lethal violence on a public roadway. Prosecutors in both counties have treated the incidents as linked, citing the overlapping membership, the timing and the specific belief among the defendants that Hayman had played a central role in the August assault. With Baker now facing more than a decade in prison and his co-defendants under supervised probation, one violent episode has reached a formal conclusion. The broader pattern of conflict between the clubs, however, remains a matter of ongoing concern for law enforcement and the communities that live with its consequences.

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