Angela Marinucci will be tried as an adult!!!

Tribune Review:

The family of murder victim Jennifer Daugherty expressed elation yesterday after the attorney for Angela Marinucci withdrew a petition to have her case transferred to juvenile court.

"It's a tremendous victory for the family and for Jennifer," Bobby Murphy, Daugherty's stepfather, said outside the courtroom.

Marinucci is accused of ganging up with five other suspects to kill the mentally challenged Daugherty in a Greensburg apartment after she had been tortured. She will be tried as an adult in the February 2010 homicide.

District Attorney John Peck will seek the death penalty against three of the accused. Marinucci, 18 , is ineligible for the death penalty because of the age at which she is accused of committing the crime.

Daugherty's sister, Joy Burkholder, said that avoiding the death penalty is all the luck Marinucci deserves.

"She will not be put to death. I don't think she deserves any more of a break. If she doesn't want to spend her life in jail, she shouldn't kill people," Burkholder said.

Marinucci's attorney, Michael DeMatt, told Judge Rita Hathaway during a brief hearing that he and Marinucci decided to keep her case in Common Pleas Court.

"After reviewing everything and speaking with my client, we decided it was not in her best interest to proceed" with the transfer, DeMatt said after the hearing.

Daugherty was beaten and tortured for more than two days and then stabbed. Her body, tied with Christmas decorations and wrapped in garbage bags, was found in a garbage can in the parking lot of Greensburg Salem Middle School on Feb. 11, 2010.

Marinucci testified that she understood and agreed with her attorney's decision. "I felt comfortable to deny (withdraw) it," Marinucci told Hathaway.

She was living with the five other suspects who allegedly abused and murdered Daugherty when she came to their apartment for a visit.

Marinucci, along with Ricky V. Smyrnes, 25; Melvin Knight, 21; Amber Meidinger, 21; Peggy Darlene Miller, 28; and Robert Loren Masters, 37, is charged with first-degree homicide, kidnapping and related charges.

Marinucci and Smyrnes were romantically involved, and she became enraged when she thought Daugherty made sexual overtures toward Smyrnes, according to previous testimony.

Attorneys for Masters and Miller are trying to negotiate plea bargains. Masters, who testified against the group in a pretrial hearing, claimed that he and Miller were in another room when Daugherty was stabbed.

Peck is seeking the death penalty against Smyrnes, Knight and Meidinger.

DeMatt asked Hathaway to direct the prosecution to provide him with potential evidence for trial, including text messages and telephone records for several defendants and a copy of a report following Greensburg police Detective Jerry Vernail's interview of a new witness.

Marinucci has a history of mental illness and no prior criminal record, according to DeMatt.

Had she been tried as a juvenile and convicted of homicide, she could not have been held in custody beyond her 21st birthday. A conviction of first-degree murder in adult court carries a mandatory life sentence.

"If a plea deal is out there, I would be more than happy to explore all options," DeMatt said. "We are preparing for trial."

Peck declined to comment about a possible plea deal for Marinucci.

Jury selection will begin May 2, Hathaway said.



Read more: Daugherty torture suspect to be tried as adult - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/westmoreland/s_731761.html#ixzz1JcYPg1To

I can't tell you how happy I am that she is going to prison for the rest of her life. I feel very sorry for her family though, no family should have to go through this. I know how exhausting it is for us physically and emotionally. I just feel for them. I hope they don't think we hate them, it's just a terrible situation to be a part of.

On another note, I hope to see many people at tonights Victims Rally at the Greensburg courthouse from 6 to 9.