Jury selection is scheduled to begin today for the trial of 27-year-old DeAndre Payton Jones Jr. of Baltimore, Maryland, the last of four defendants to come before Indiana County Court to answer murder charges in the death of a Blairsville man.
Jones is charged with criminal homicide, robbery, and conspiracy to both of those charges. He is accused of playing a role in the execution-style murder of Tyron Howard at Howard’s apartment in September of 2014.
Prosecutors had hoped for a first degree murder conviction for the man they accused of being the ringleader in the murder, 45-year-old Michael Eades Jr. of Tyrone, but Eades was convicted only of involuntary manslaughter after defense attorneys cast doubt on the testimony of two other defendants. In a plea bargain in exchange for their testimony, Stanley Boynton pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter and Kevin King to third-degree murder. Both Boynton and King are from Altoona. They’re all scheduled for sentencing on September 8th.
Jury selection for Jones is scheduled for 8:30 this morning before President Judge William Martin.
