MAHONING COURT Prosecutor challenges plea deal in slaying

A suspect has said -- then denied -- that he knows who killed the victim, a prosecutor said.
By DEBORA SHAULIS
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- If William Aponte knows who killed Deandre Edwards, he hasn't told a prosecuting attorney, and that could be the difference between going to prison for four years or the rest of his life.
Aponte appears again next Monday before Judge R. Scott Krichbaum of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court, at which time his plea agreement either will be upheld or rescinded.
Aponte, 43, of Liberty Road, originally was charged with one count of aggravated murder, two counts of felonious assault and one count of improperly discharging a firearm at or into a habitation, with firearm specifications on all counts, in Edwards' death.
Police found Edwards shot in the back last June 29 on Grandview Avenue, on the city's East Side. That same night, police also found Aponte, who had been shot in the head, a few blocks away.
An additional count of murder against Aponte was added when a superseding indictment was issued last November.
Struck a deal
Aponte struck a deal, pleading guilty to the firearm charge while the other counts were dismissed in exchange for Aponte's providing the identity of Edwards' killer. He would be sentenced to four years in prison.
He was scheduled to be sentenced Monday, but Martin P. Desmond, an assistant county prosecutor, filed a motion to vacate the plea agreement because Aponte wasn't cooperating. Aponte told authorities that he knew who killed Edwards but now denies that, Desmond added.
"That's a bad deal. That's not the fulfillment of the contract," Judge Krichbaum said.
Aponte "never backed out on his end of the bargain," defense lawyer Ted T. Macejko Jr. said. Aponte gave him a statement recently that is "essentially the same" as before, Macejko added.
Took over
Desmond took over Aponte's case after Atty. Jay Macejko left the county prosecutor's office to become Youngstown city prosecutor. Aponte agreed to be interviewed by Desmond for the first time. Judge Krichbaum gave them time Monday to begin talking, and the hearing was eventually continued to next week.
Judge Krichbaum noted that, if Aponte were found guilty on all charges, the maximum sentence would be life imprisonment plus 27 years. Aponte remains in the county jail.
Last July, four armed East Side men who shot at officers and eluded a dragnet for six hours were said to have been avenging Edwards' killing. One of the four men was Edwards' brother.
shaulis@vindy.com