Man facing death-penalty charges pleads guilty to drug charges

YOUNGSTOWN — A man who faces a capital murder trial next year in a double homicide pleaded guilty today to drug charges from an earlier indictment.

Lorenza Barnette, 28, of Lora Avenue, pleaded guilty as charged to three counts of heroin trafficking before Judge Lou A. D’Apolito of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court, who will sentence him at a later date.

Barnette is in the county jail without bond as he awaits a March 22 jury trial before Judge D’Apolito on two counts of murder with death-penalty specifications in the Aug. 11 suffocation deaths of Jaron L. Roland, 20, of Fairmont Avenue, and Darry B. Woods-Burt Jr., 19, of the city’s North Side.

For the complete story, see Tuesday's Vindicator and Vindy.com