Man accused of scaring Pa. woman to death in robbery is on trial

EASTON, Pa. (AP) — A man is on trial on charges he scared an elderly woman so much during a home-invasion robbery that she had a heart attack that night and died two months later.

Quadir Taylor, 29, of Easton, acknowledges he helped others rob 76-year-old Carrie Smith in her Northampton County home in January 2012. But he disputes a prosecutor’s claims the heart attack caused her eventual death. A forensic pathologist has concluded it led to her death.

Taylor’s attorney, James Brose, said he plans to call a medical expert to testify that the woman’s heart recovered after the heart attack and that she died of lung disease.

“They’re not going to be able to prove that being in this even led to Ms. Smith’s death,” Brose told the jury. “Absent a lung transplant, this was going to lead to Ms. Smith’s death at some point.”

Assistant District Attorney Patricia Mulqueen argued that although Taylor might not have meant to cause Smith’s death, he should be convicted of second-degree murder. In Pennsylvania, that’s any death that results from another felony.