Post by CCADP on Aug 30, 2005 6:08:09 GMT -5
Easton man charged in slaying
Teen's homicide may have been mistaken identity, police say.
By Joe McDonald
Of The Morning Call
An 18-year-old Easton man was arrested Monday on charges he fatally shot a city teenager on a porch at 1011 Northampton St. on Aug. 15.
Michael Staton, 18, who listed his address as 1130 Northampton St. and 19 S. Elder St., may have shot the wrong man when, looking for revenge, he gunned down an Easton teenager he thought had robbed him days earlier, police said.
Staton, charged with killing 17-year-old Roy Jenkins, was sent to Northampton County Prison without bail.
Jenkins, a recent Easton Area High School graduate, was one of six people standing on the porch about 1 a.m. when Staton allegedly began shooting from the sidewalk.
Staton, who was mugged Aug. 13, may have been gunning for someone else, officials said at a news conference in the district attorney's office. Staton believed whoever robbed him either lived at 1011 Northampton St. or ''hung out there,'' said police Lt. Barry Golazeski.
Staton and Jenkins knew each other and had recently ''become acquainted,'' Golazeski said. He did not elaborate.
District Attorney John Morganelli said Jenkins ''may have been in the wrong place at the wrong time.'' Jenkins' family, who moved from Harlem in New York City to Easton a few years ago, has said Jenkins was an innocent victim.
Morganelli said Jenkins' shooting and the fatal shooting of a Bethlehem grocer Sunday afternoon were the latest examples of a larger problem involving young men, ages 16 through the early 20s, with guns who make money dealing drugs and pulling off robberies.
''We have a bunch of young thugs, some of them gang members, some wannabe gang members, who settle disputes with gun violence and often seek revenge when they are somehow wrong or insulted,'' Morganelli said.
If convicted of first-degree murder, Staton faces ''at the very least life in prison,'' Morganelli said. He said his office may seek the death penalty for Staton.
Police were aware there had been at least two incidents in the same area of the shooting. The shooting happened outside an apartment that had been burglarized that weekend and near a fight where a large crowd had gathered weeks earlier.
But tips from the public put police onto something else: a robbery in the first block of S. Elder Street on Aug. 13 — two days before James was shot — of a drug dealer known by the street name ''Blue,'' Golazeski said. Blue was robbed of marijuana, money and a necklace.
A vice officer in the Police Department was able to determine Blue's identity, Golazeski said. Through an informant, police arranged a drug deal at 14th and Ferry streets Friday night with Blue, identified in court papers as Staton.
Staton sold $50 worth of crack cocaine to the informant, and when police moved in to make an arrest he ran and was caught a block away, police said.
Staton spent the weekend in prison under $150,000 bail on charges of possession of drugs, possession with intent to deliver drugs, delivery of drugs and possession of a small amount of marijuana. Monday afternoon he was arraigned by District Judge Michael J. Koury Jr. of Wilson on a charge of homicide and five counts of aggravated assault.
The arrest affidavit has been sealed by Northampton County Court Judge William F. Moran at the request of prosecutors to ''protect the integrity of the ongoing investigation and also potential witnesses,'' Morganelli said.
At his arraignment, Staton said he was born in Allentown, never held a job and dropped out of 10th grade because ''it didn't work out.'' He said he was arrested as a juvenile on a marijuana charge and when he was 13 on a reckless endangerment charge, and was once charged with driving without a license.
In fall 2004 a Northampton County judge issued a temporary protection-from-abuse order sought by Maritza Medina of 1325 Washington St., Easton, against him.
In court papers Medina said Staton, whom she described as homeless and unemployed, grabbed her by the hair and threw her to the ground on Oct. 18 between 10th and 12th streets in Easton.
joe.mcdonald@mcall.com
610-559-2152
Reporter Tyra Braden contributed to this story.
Mccall.com
Teen's homicide may have been mistaken identity, police say.
By Joe McDonald
Of The Morning Call
An 18-year-old Easton man was arrested Monday on charges he fatally shot a city teenager on a porch at 1011 Northampton St. on Aug. 15.
Michael Staton, 18, who listed his address as 1130 Northampton St. and 19 S. Elder St., may have shot the wrong man when, looking for revenge, he gunned down an Easton teenager he thought had robbed him days earlier, police said.
Staton, charged with killing 17-year-old Roy Jenkins, was sent to Northampton County Prison without bail.
Jenkins, a recent Easton Area High School graduate, was one of six people standing on the porch about 1 a.m. when Staton allegedly began shooting from the sidewalk.
Staton, who was mugged Aug. 13, may have been gunning for someone else, officials said at a news conference in the district attorney's office. Staton believed whoever robbed him either lived at 1011 Northampton St. or ''hung out there,'' said police Lt. Barry Golazeski.
Staton and Jenkins knew each other and had recently ''become acquainted,'' Golazeski said. He did not elaborate.
District Attorney John Morganelli said Jenkins ''may have been in the wrong place at the wrong time.'' Jenkins' family, who moved from Harlem in New York City to Easton a few years ago, has said Jenkins was an innocent victim.
Morganelli said Jenkins' shooting and the fatal shooting of a Bethlehem grocer Sunday afternoon were the latest examples of a larger problem involving young men, ages 16 through the early 20s, with guns who make money dealing drugs and pulling off robberies.
''We have a bunch of young thugs, some of them gang members, some wannabe gang members, who settle disputes with gun violence and often seek revenge when they are somehow wrong or insulted,'' Morganelli said.
If convicted of first-degree murder, Staton faces ''at the very least life in prison,'' Morganelli said. He said his office may seek the death penalty for Staton.
Police were aware there had been at least two incidents in the same area of the shooting. The shooting happened outside an apartment that had been burglarized that weekend and near a fight where a large crowd had gathered weeks earlier.
But tips from the public put police onto something else: a robbery in the first block of S. Elder Street on Aug. 13 — two days before James was shot — of a drug dealer known by the street name ''Blue,'' Golazeski said. Blue was robbed of marijuana, money and a necklace.
A vice officer in the Police Department was able to determine Blue's identity, Golazeski said. Through an informant, police arranged a drug deal at 14th and Ferry streets Friday night with Blue, identified in court papers as Staton.
Staton sold $50 worth of crack cocaine to the informant, and when police moved in to make an arrest he ran and was caught a block away, police said.
Staton spent the weekend in prison under $150,000 bail on charges of possession of drugs, possession with intent to deliver drugs, delivery of drugs and possession of a small amount of marijuana. Monday afternoon he was arraigned by District Judge Michael J. Koury Jr. of Wilson on a charge of homicide and five counts of aggravated assault.
The arrest affidavit has been sealed by Northampton County Court Judge William F. Moran at the request of prosecutors to ''protect the integrity of the ongoing investigation and also potential witnesses,'' Morganelli said.
At his arraignment, Staton said he was born in Allentown, never held a job and dropped out of 10th grade because ''it didn't work out.'' He said he was arrested as a juvenile on a marijuana charge and when he was 13 on a reckless endangerment charge, and was once charged with driving without a license.
In fall 2004 a Northampton County judge issued a temporary protection-from-abuse order sought by Maritza Medina of 1325 Washington St., Easton, against him.
In court papers Medina said Staton, whom she described as homeless and unemployed, grabbed her by the hair and threw her to the ground on Oct. 18 between 10th and 12th streets in Easton.
joe.mcdonald@mcall.com
610-559-2152
Reporter Tyra Braden contributed to this story.
Mccall.com