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Arraigned in double murder, man to stay in jail until trial
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ACCUSED OF DOUBLE MURDER: Lorenza I. Barnette, center, charged with two counts of aggravated murder, two counts of kidnapping, two counts of aggravated robbery, and arson, enters a plea of innocent Tuesday to those charges in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court. He is flanked by his attorneys Paul C. Conn, left, and Thomas E. Zena.
No bond has been set for the North Side man.
YOUNGSTOWN — A man indicted by a Mahoning County grand jury on two counts of murder will stay in the county jail until his trial.
Lorenza I. Barnette of Lora Avenue appeared one day after his 28th birthday in common pleas court for arraignment on two counts of murder with death- penalty specifications, two counts of kidnapping, two counts of aggravated robbery, and arson.
Barnette was arraigned Tuesday before Judge Lou D’Apolito and pleaded innocent to all the charges. Prosecutors asked that bond be set at $1 million, but the judge did not set a bond amount in the case, meaning Barnette will be kept in the county lockup.
Barnette’s case has been assigned to Judge D’Apolito, where Barnette already has drug charges pending.
Barnette was indicted in August and charged with three counts of trafficking in drugs. The indictment says Barnette on three separate dates this year attempted to sell heroin on the city streets. Two of the attempted transactions took place within 1,000 feet of a school, police said.
Barnette also is charged with the Aug. 11 deaths of Jaron L. Roland, 20, of Fairmont Avenue and Darry B. Woods-Burt Jr., 19, of the city’s North Side.
Roland and Woods-Burt, who were described by family members as inseparable cousins, were found inside a burning car on West Avenue. Both men were bound with duct tape, and bags had been placed over their heads.
Dr. Joseph S. Ohr, forensic pathologist and deputy county coroner, determined that both men died of suffocation and made a preliminary ruling of homicide. No stab or bullet wounds were found on the victims.
Barnette was arrested without incident at 2:45 p.m. Thursday by the Mahoning Valley Violent Crimes Task Force, mere hours after he was indicted, in the 2900 block of Roosevelt Drive, Liberty, shortly after he left a nearby apartment complex.
Robert Bush, an assistant county prosecutor, said the robbery and arson charges listed in the indictment are what make Barnette eligible for the death penalty if convicted.
“Counts one and three are both listed as felonies with life imprisonment or death sentences. Robbery, kidnapping and arson are the capital-murder charges in this case,” Bush said.
jgoodwin@vindy.com