Judge tosses homicide case against co-defendant in Donora convenience store shooting
Homewood woman had been facing death penalty if convicted of first-degree murder
Mike Jones
The capital murder case against a woman whose DNA was allegedly found on a shell casing used in the execution-style killing of a Donora convenience store worker in 2021 was dismissed after a judge said there was no direct evidence tying her to the shooting.
Washington County Judge Traci McDonald dismissed felony criminal homicide and conspiracy charges Friday against Jah Zhanee Inifi Sutton after her defense attorneys presented a habeas petition raising doubts about the prosecution’s case against their client.
“This case should’ve never gone forward,” defense attorney Timothy Dawson said in a phone interview Monday. “We had a judge who had the guts to make the right call. And this was the right call. … It sounds overstated, but justice was done.”
Sutton was charged with criminal conspiracy involving homicide and possessing an instrument of crime nearly 10 months after Nicholas Tarpley was shot to death Feb. 24, 2021, while working inside Anna Lee’s Convenience Store in Donora. State police investigators said they matched her DNA on one of the bullet casings found at the shooting scene, although there was no evidence she was near the store or helped to plan the shooting.
Sidney Devon McLean, 36, of McKeesport, and Devell Dexter Christian, 35, of White Oak, were charged in July 2021 and accused of walking into the store and shooting Tarpley, 28, multiple times while he made a sandwich for a customer. Both are still awaiting trial on homicide and other charges, and could face the death penalty, if convicted.
During Sutton’s formal arraignment in April 2022, prosecutors unexpectedly added the criminal homicide charge against her and announced they intended to seek the death penalty if she was convicted of first-degree murder.
“I reviewed all the documents (and) it never should’ve been a capital case,” Dawson said. “They really had nothing, but they kept pressing forward. Thank God we got this decision. Where do you get the death penalty tied into that? It makes no sense.”
In her 20-page opinion filed Friday afternoon, McDonald wrote that while Sutton “may have been aware of the shooting,” there was no evidence presented showing she was at the scene or involved in the conspiracy.
“The Commonwealth argues that the evidence establishes that Sutton was an active part of the planning in the conspiracy. Unfortunately, the Commonwealth failed to set forth any evidence and/or testimony supporting this theory,” McDonald wrote in her opinion.
She added that although Sutton’s DNA may have been found on one of the bullet casings left at the scene, state police investigators could only speculate how that happened, with myriad ways in which someone might have come in contact with the ammunition.
“This Court, without more of a connection being shown, is forced to agree with the Defendant that this evidence only establishes that Sutton was physically in contact with the bullet at some unknown time in the past. While this gap in information might be remedied at trial, prima facie requires, at least, some minimal showing beyond mere speculation,” McDonald wrote.
McDonald pointed to testimony from lead investigator state police Trooper Adam Janosko at Sutton’s preliminary hearing in February 2022 in which he said “anything is possible” when asked whether she was at the scene or helped plan the shooting.
“Stated plainly, without more, this Court cannot reach a reasonable inference, but may only speculate on what has happened,” McDonald wrote in her opinion. “And while this Court recognizes the extensive, comprehensive and thorough investigation of Trooper Janosko in seeking justice for Nicholas Tarpley, unlike Trooper Janosko, this Court cannot find that speculating ‘anything could be possible’ is sufficient for prima facie.”
Washington County District Attorney Jason Walsh said Monday that he was surprised by the decision and would immediately appeal it to the state Superior Court.
“Obviously I completely disagree with the (opinion). There is plenty of evidence,” Walsh said while ticking off numerous factors that he thought tied Sutton to the homicide. “It defies reason to me. Any reasonable (person) can infer that she was connected to the homicide and participated in the planning of it.”
Sutton, 31, of Homewood, was arrested in Monroeville in July 2021 while staying at a motel with McLean, who was her boyfriend at the time. Last year, she pleaded guilty to federal drug charges in exchange for a 10-year prison sentence, and last month she pleaded guilty to misdemeanor drug charges in Allegheny County and was given credit for time served.
But Sutton’s other defense attorney, Valerie Veltri, said their client is relieved that she no longer has the capital murder case hanging over her head.
“We think the judge did this in a very fair manner,” Veltri said. “She was never at the scene, ever. She should never have been charged.”
Meanwhile, the homicide cases of McLean and Christian were “severed” by McDonald earlier this year in order for them to have separate trials, although no dates have been scheduled. Christian is challenging whether his brief police interview with Janosko should be allowed at trial over concerns about if he was properly informed of his Miranda rights beforehand. McDonald held a hearing last month to listen to arguments in that case and is expected to make a decision at a later date.