Murder trial verdicts mixed
JOHNSTOWN — Although prosecutors were seeking first-degree murder convictions, a Cambria County jury found the shooter in a Johnstown homicide guilty of third-degree murder and his accomplice guilty of voluntary manslaughter.
The jury of seven women and five men deliberated for three hours on Monday night before convicting 31-year-old Marquis "G" Neal, the triggerman, and his cousin, 29-year-old Anthony Harvey, the accomplice who was charged with driving Neal to and from the Oakhurst Homes, where the murder took place.
They were charged in the slaying of 21-year-old J-Quan "Scar" Lewis of New York City in a grassy area off Grandinetti Street in the Oakhurst Homes housing project in Johnstown on Oct. 1, 2011.
Lewis, who had been staying in Johnstown for several months, was shot three times, including a final shot to the head in what one witness described as an execution-style shooting.
The murder took place about
14 hours after Lewis had been involved in a fight with Harvey outside Edder's Den, a bar in the Oakhurst neighborhood.
Witnesses testified during the trial that Lewis emerged the winner in the fight, with Harvey being helped into and driven away in a minivan by Neal.
It never came out what the original verbal confrontation between the men was about.
The victim's mother, Evelyn Lewis of Queens, N.Y., who had been here for the trial, reacted angrily about the verdict while praising prosecutors for their work on the case.
"It's not good enough for me. I'm not pleased. These people (defendants) came after my son like an animal. He didn't do nothing. He bumped Mr. Neal," the mother said.
Recalling that her son had been killed only one day after his birthday, the mother said, "My son was 21 years old. I'm 50 years old, and I'm sentenced to life (without him). They killed my son, and that's not right. Murder-three. Are you kidding me?"
During the trial, Hakeem Horton, a prosecution witness and a frie! nd of the victim, testified that while Lewis was still upset the day after the fight, he had nudged Neal slightly when they encountered each other on the day of the shooting after Lewis ignored Neal's attempt to shake hands.
In addition to the third-degree murder conviction, Neal was convicted of two counts of aggravated assault and one count of flight to avoid apprehension.
Harvey was found not guilty of both first-degree and third-degree murder and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
He was convicted of voluntary manslaughter, aggravated assault by causing serious bodily injury, flight to avoid apprehension and hindering the aprehension of another person.
In closing arguments to the jury Monday, Assistant District Attorney Tamara Bernstein said that the shooting was premeditated by the defendants to avenge the beating Harvey had received "from the kid from Philadelphia." Although Neal had suggested in his testimony to the jury that there had been a chance encounter with Lewis, Bernstein said that Neal had going looking for the victim.
When Lewis walked past Neal and ignored his attempt to shake hands, Neal "shot in cold blood," she said. Neal, walking at a deliberate pace, continued shooting as the victim zigzagged "running for his life." she said.
District Attorney Kelly Callihan, when asked about the verdict, said that she felt the prosecution had put on a strong case for first-degree murder, with the victim having been shot three times, including once in the back and once in the head.
"But at the end of the day, it's the jury's decision, and we respect that decision," she said.
The third-degree murder conviction carries a maximum prison sentence of 20 to 40 years, with Judge Norman Krumenacker having the option to run consecutive terms on the other convictions, she said.
Attorney Robert Davis Gleason, who represents Neal, maintained in closing that his client had been under the influence of alcohol and drugs and ! could not! form the intent to kill. Neal testified that he had been drinking vodka and popping pills after getting up that morning and had gone out to try to find some "weed" – marijuana – at other nearby residences.
But Bernstein said that the evidence at trial made it "abundantly clear this man was not intoxicated, not in a state where he lost control of his faculties." Witnesses said that the shooter fired five to seven times, with the victim being hit three times.
Attorney Jerome Kaharick had urged the jurors to acquit Harvey, saying that the prosecution "had no case" against his client. Nobody saw Harvey at the Oakhurst Homes prior to the shooting, Kaharick recalled.
Neal testified that after the shooting, he spotted Harvey driving by in the minivan, and jumped in front of it to get it to stop.
But Bernstein said that the two Philadelphia men, who were not only cousins but best friends, had made the arrangements to go after Lewis through a series of phone calls late on Sept. 30, 2011, and the day of the shooting.
What the jury decided:
Marquis 'G' Neal
• Criminal homicide: 1st degree murder – not guilty
3rd degree murder – guilty
• Aggravated assault causing serious bodily injury – guilty
• Aggravated assault with a deadly weapon – guilty
• Flight to avoid apprehension – guilty
Anthony 'Mack' Harvey
• Criminal homicide:
1st degree murder – not guilty
3rd degree murder – not guilty
• Voluntary manslaughter – guilty
• Aggravated assault causing serious bodily injury – guilty
• Aggravated assault with a deadly weapon – not guilty
• Flight to avoid apprehension – guilty
• Hindering apprehension of another person – guilty
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