Man convicted in 2014 homicide | News

A Baltimore man faces a mandatory life prison sentence after being convicted Wednesday for taking part in the robbery and slaying of a Blairsville man three years ago.

A jury convicted Deandre Jones Jr., 32, of second-degree murder, robbery and conspiracy to robbery following two days of testimony in Indiana County Common Pleas Court.

Jones was one of four suspects accused of planning to rob and kill Tyron Howard, 37, in his apartment at 122 S. Stewart St.

Two of Jones’ co-defendants reached plea agreements with the district attorney’s office and a third was convicted following a trial in June.

State police charged that the group traveled from Altoona to Blairsville on the night of Sept. 29, 2014, and the purported leader of the plot, Michael Eades, told the others he intended to collect money Howard owed him from drug trafficking.

Witnesses portrayed Howard and Eades as best friends for years. Howard was the best man at Eades’ wedding, and Eades named one of his children after Howard.

Howard’s friends pointed police to Eades early in the investigation, and Eades denied that he left Altoona on the night Howard was killed. State police subpoenaed cellphone records for Eades and the others as each was connected to the case, and studied hours of surveillance video recordings made at area Sheetz stores and at two downtown Blairsville businesses.

Trooper Deana Kirkland filed charges after the videos confirmed Eades’ vehicle traveling to and from Howard’s street on the night he was killed.

According to trial testimony, Howard let the men into his apartment and within moments Eades and his stepbrother, Kevin King, demanded Howard’s money.

After King drew a gun, he and Eades directed King’s friend Stanley Boynton to search the bedroom for more money. King told Jones to tie Howard’s hands with an electrical extension cord, then sent Jones to the bedroom after he fumbled with the cord and didn’t tie Howard’s hands securely, Jones testified on Wednesday.

Boynton testified that he returned from the bedroom with bags of cash, and fled from the apartment when he saw King plunge a sword into Howard’s back.

Jones told the jury that he, too, left the bedroom after hearing a commotion in the living room, and that King and Eades sent him outside to check on Boynton.

Jones said he didn’t realize Howard had been stabbed.

A short time later, King and Eades returned to Eades’ Ford Expedition and the group drove back to Altoona, where Eades and King counted out the money. Boynton and Jones each were given $10,000, according to testimony.

Two nights later, Howard’s friends found him dead on the living room floor with a sword embedded in the back of his head. A pathologist said he counted more than 30 wounds at Howard’s autopsy.

King testified as a defense witness, telling the jury that the violence wasn’t planned and that Jones would have been excluded from the group if it had, because “that wasn’t his lifestyle.”

King, 34, told the jury that he, Eades and Howard all were involved in drug trade but Jones and Boynton were not.

Jones testified that he complied with Eades and King because he was afraid of angering them. He testified that he knew of King’s short temper, and said he relied on Eades, his cousin, as his only way back to Baltimore.

The attorneys focused on Jones’ claim that he acted under duress. Judge William Martin told the jury that duress is a legal defense for a defendant who is directly threatened, felt intimidated and does not recklessly put himself in a position to commit a crime.

Martin said the district attorney is required to disprove a defense claim of duress.

Defense attorney Gary Knaresboro and District Attorney Patrick Dougherty also dwelt on the charge of a conspiracy as they questioned Jones and the other witnesses, and made their last appeals to the jury.

Martin told the jury that conspiracy, legally defined, requires two people to agree to commit a crime, not necessarily in words but sometimes just in their actions. A conspiracy need not be arranged well in advance and could form in a matter of moments with “a firm common understanding,” the judge said. 

A conspiracy also requires at least one of those involved to take an overt step to commit the crime.

“The partners are responsible for each other’s actions,” Martin instructed the jury.

Dougherty said the evidence supported the verdict.

“I am not surprised. I think it was clear to the jury, as I said all along, that he (Jones) was an active participant,” Dougherty said. “He tied Ty Howard’s hands, he was not a mere bystander. He participated in the robbery, and especially, he accepted the fruits of the robbery.

“We had evidence of this that was uncontroverted by anyone, not even by Jones.

“And I think the jury appreciated that. He was an active participant in the robbery.”

Jones showed little emotion when Martin read the verdict. He leaned over and commented to Knaresboro, then looked down and occasionally shook his head as the jurors were individually asked to confirm their verdicts.

“We respect the jury’s verdict,” Knaresboro said. “In this case, we see things differently. Of all the individuals involved, he was probably the least culpable.”

Second-degree murder is a killing carried out in the process of another felony offense, such as robbery. It carries a mandatory sentence of life in prison.

Robbery and conspiracy to robbery, both first-degree felonies, carry maximum terms of 20 years in prison.

In his trial in June, Eades told the jury he waited in his vehicle while King, Jones and Boynton visited Howard’s apartment and denied having any part in his death.

The jury convicted him of involuntary manslaughter.

King and Boynton testified against Eades in an agreement with the district attorney’s office. One week after Eades’ trial, King pleaded guilty to third-degree murder and Boynton pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter.

Eades, 45; King, 34; and Boynton, 36, are scheduled to be sentenced Sept. 8.

Martin on Thursday set a sentencing hearing on Oct. 30 for Jones.

All four remain in Indiana County Jail, where they have been held since their arrests in April 2016.