Allentown man declines to attend preliminary hearing on homicide charges

jail cell, prison cell

An Allentown man accused of homicide was to have his preliminary hearing Wednesday, an opportunity to determine whether enough evidence existed for the matter to proceed to trial.

But when the time came, the 29-year-old, Lafayette "Law" Upshaw, was nowhere to be found.

Upshaw is accused of fatally shooting 10-year-old Anthony "Any" Santiago in the torso on March 7 in the 600 block of West Tilghman Street.

Upshaw remains incarcerated without bail, but he declined to appear at his own preliminary hearing, a rarity when it comes to any such hearing, let alone in a homicide case.

"Whatever the reason is, that's between him and his attorney," said First Assistant District Attorney Steven Luksa, who said he could not recall such an instance happening before.

A brief hearing proceeded without Upshaw, and District Judge Robert Halal found there was sufficient evidence for the case to go to trial, Luksa said.

A phone message to Upshaw's attorney, James Nechin, was not returned.

Upshaw is accused of shooting Santiago while the victim was standing along the street talking with Tyquan "Tight" Lloyd, 20, and an unidentified man, who is known as Angel Lopez and "Trouble," police said.

Lloyd was shot in the left foot and the unidentified man, although not injured, was directly in the line of fire, police previously said.

Upshaw faces charges of homicide, attempted criminal homicide, aggravated assault, and recklessly endangering another person, according to court documents.

Contact Allentown reporter Colin McEvoy at 484-894-2549 or cmcevoy@express-times.com.

Like Allentown on lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook

Read More @ Source

How to Get Away With Murder

An educational film on how to get away with murder that will take you through an unsolvable / unprosecutable homicide in four easy steps. Thanks to the King County Prosecuting Attorney's office for their kind assistance.

Video Rating: 4 / 5



Criminal Stories Here

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Charges dismissed in grisly Ypsilanti Township triple homicide

Image
For nearly six years, they were locked up facing a possible death sentence for a grisly 2001 triple homicide in Ypsilanti Township. On Friday, a federal judge dismissed the charges against Deondre Byrd and three other men after a federal prosecutor said new evidence came to light last Friday that prevented the government from taking the case to trial. It was the second time in three years that Byrd escaped murder charges. He has been imprisoned in recent years for both the triple homicide and the slaying of a 16-year-old girl in Ann Arbor, but he has been convicted on only a federal gun charge. "Obviously, I'm pretty upset that almost 11 years later, we still don't have any answers," said Christy Brown, 30, a close family friend of the victims of the triple homicide. She said she got a call from federal prosecutors Thursday saying the case was being dropped, but they wouldn't elaborate. "I was very surprised. I honestly thought they were making some...
Keep reading

Deputies: Two men sought in connection to May murder

Image
By Bianca Prieto, Orlando Sentinel 4:56 p.m. EST, June 20, 2012 Lorenzo Holmes and Willie Bryant III are persons of interest in the shooting death of DeAnthony Ryles. (Orange County Sheriff's Office, Orange County Sheriff's Office / Jun 20, 2012) Orange County murder detectives are looking for two people of interest in the shooting death of DeAnthony Ryles last month. Detectives identified the persons of interest as 23-year-old Lorenzo Holmes and 22-year-old Willie Bryant III. DeAnthony "D.A." Ryles was gunned down around 2:43 a.m. May 21 near the intersection of Lee Road and Kingswood Drive. Ryles and his friends first encountered another group of men at Firestone Live in downtown Orlando, and then later met at aMcDonald'srestaurant north of downtown. The two groups of men began shooting at each other as they drove along Lee Road. Ryles was injured during the shooting and crashed his car into the Fifth Third bank on Lee Road. ...
Keep reading

Flint's battlefield: A three-year murder map

Image
FLINT, MI -- There have been 189 murders in the city since 2010. Below is a map of the locations of each murder in the last three years, as well as the names of the slain on Flint's battlefield. The spike in murders occurred almost immediately after large-scale layoffs in March of 2010. By year's end the city had set a record with 66 murders, breaking the previous mark of 61 set in 1986. Killing continued in 2011 with 57 murders. A look at the map shows the majority of the murders took place on the north and east sides, historically the most economically depressed areas of the city. Just 25 murders in the last three years occurred south of Court Street. The map is color-coded by year. Green markers denote 2012 murders while red markers are from 2011 and blue from 2010. 2012 No. 1: Jan. 11: Kevin Berger, 55, died Jan. 11 after a Jan. 10 double shooting at his home on Keller Avenue near Welch Boulevard around 10:15 pm. Darius McGee, 25, was also critically shot. He survi...
Keep reading