Jury to hear case in Pa. torture, murder

Associated Press

GREENSBURG, Pa.

A jury from another county will be brought in to decide the fate of one of the defendants charged in the torture killing of a mentally disabled woman more than two years ago in western Pennsylvania.

The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review says a West- moreland County judge on Friday granted a request by attorneys for 26-year-old Ricky Smyrnes, who argued that the August penalty-phase deliberations in the case of 22-year-old defendant Melvin Knight might prejudice jurors.

Knight pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and other charges in the February 2010 death of Jennifer Daughtery in a dingy Greensburg apartment. Another defendant is serving a life term. Smyrnes and three others are awaiting trial.

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court will determine from which county jurors for Smyrnes’ trial will be selected.