PHILADELPHIA — Two men were convicted of first-degree murder yesterday in the ambush death of a police officer after a bank robbery even though neither defendant pulled the trigger.
Levon Warner, 41, and Eric Floyd, 35, each face the possibility of the death penalty after being convicted on all counts yesterday in the May 3, 2008, shooting death of Sergeant Stephen Liczbinski. The man who shot Liczbinski died that day in a shoot-out with police.
Floyd watched the verdict from a closed-circuit TV in a courthouse holding cell, where he spent most of the two-month trial after being banished for punching his lawyer.
Jurors agreed that Warner and Floyd shared in the blame for the officer’s death, which followed a daytime bank robbery inside a crowded supermarket. Both men took part in the robbery.
Prosecutors said the three fleeing men couldn’t shake Liczbinski, prompting Floyd to say they should “bang him.’’ Warner handed Howard Cain a rifle, and Cain shot the 39-year-old officer five times as he took cover behind his cruiser’s door, they said.
A woman gardening nearby heard his last words: “Tell my wife and my kids I love them.’’--more--"
"Pa. worker charged in autistic man’s death" by Associated Press | August 4, 2010
PENNDEL, Pa. — A Pennsylvania counselor was charged with manslaughter yesterday in the heat death of a 20-year-old autistic man left for hours in a hot van, but her lawyer said many people share in the blame.
Stacey Strauss, 40, of Philadelphia was arraigned on a felony neglect charge and misdemeanor counts of involuntary manslaughter and reckless endangerment. According to court papers, Strauss denied being assigned to care for Bryan Nevins on an outing the day of his death.
Nevins was found dead in the rear seat of a scorching-hot van about five hours after a small group returned July 24 to Woods Services, a residential treatment program in suburban Philadelphia. The temperatures that day reached 97 degrees.
Strauss had called a supervisor from a nearby amusement park that morning to say Nevins was causing problems, biting himself and trying to bite another client, the police affidavit states. She was told the group should return home. They returned to the Langhorne campus from Sesame Place at about 12:30 p.m.
Strauss, who was driving the van, told authorities she was only responsible for one client, while the other counselor on the trip was responsible for the other three. But her supervisor told police she had assigned Strauss to watch Nevins and a second client.
Bucks County prosecutors expect Strauss will post her $50,000 bail by today.
“My son was essentially murdered by this woman,’’ William Nevins, a retired New York City homicide detective who lives in Oceanside, N.Y., said. “Now we’ll see what the people of Bucks County think the life of a disabled person is worth.’’
He described his son, a triplet, as severely autistic but said he enjoyed music, running, swimming, and other simple things. He and a triplet brother had previously been well cared for in their five years at Woods Services, the father said.--more--"
