Man charged with giving alcohol to 20-year-old who fell 2 stories at Pirates game

A 21-year-old friend of the 20-year-old man who fell 20 feet from the stands during a Pittsburgh Pirates home game last month was charged Tuesday with giving him alcohol.

Ethan Kirkwood, of McKeesport, Pennsylvania, was charged with two counts of furnishing alcohol to someone under 21. He is accused of buying beer for Kavan Markwood before Markwood plunged from the stands, according to a criminal complaint filed Tuesday.

The complaint, written by Officer Timothy Zundel of the Pennsylvania State Police Bureau of Liquor Control Enforcement, says Kirkwood admitted he bought beer for Markwood, who is a birthday shy of being the legal age to consume alcohol.

The document does not allege alcohol consumption caused Markwood’s fall. Kirkwood did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Kirkwood, the complaint says, is seen on video buying three rounds of beer, each time holding two 24-ounce cans. The high school acquaintances were at the game with two women, one of whom is Markwood’s girlfriend, the complaint says.

She told Pittsburgh police that her boyfriend had two of the beers during the game, according to the complaint.

After Markwood fell, the women were seen on video scrambling to find Kirkwood, who subsequently handed a can to one of them, the complaint sats. She threw it in the trash, it says.

Kirkwood then jumped over a railing and rushed to the field “to help his friend,” the complaint says.

Court records show Kirkwood pleaded guilty to public drunkenness and the purchase of alcohol by a minor twice each for incidents in 2022 and 2023. Tuesday’s criminal complaint alleges “defendant’s reputation for criminal activity” bolsters its credibility.

Markwood fell over the Roberto Clemente Wall after Pirates outfielder Andrew McCutchen produced a two-run double to give the Pirates a 4-3 lead and the final score in the seventh inning.

The fall was followed by stunned silence among the more than 11,000 people at the park as players took a knee and Markwood appeared motionless on the field.

He was rushed to Allegheny General Hospital, where he was reported in critical condition, before his condition improved.

On May 5, Taryn Markwood, Markwood’s sister, thanked first responders, hospital personnel and well-wishers who she said helped buoy the man’s spirits and those of his family. She reported that breathing tubes were removed, a development that signals patients are breathing on their own.

“I’m incredibly thankful to share that Kav is making remarkable progress,” Taryn Markwood said at the time.

Markwood himself spoke out two days later, telling the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review he had “broken everything,” that he had back pain and that he was unable to sleep but was otherwise “all right.”

Markwood and Kirkwood are listed as players for South Allegheny High School’s football team during the 2021-22 season. After Markwood fell, the South Allegheny School District said he was a team MVP who graduated in 2022.

A preliminary hearing in the case against Kirkwood was scheduled for June 23.