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Jurors convict robbery suspects
Although a former Cecil Township man admitted to telling various versions of events March 15 that led to his being shot in the chest, a jury obviously accepted his last version as being the truth.
The jury of seven men and five women deliberated about four hours Tuesday before finding Corey Cecil Alan Lomax, 23, of Donora, and Detrius Lamar Wade, 23, of Washington, guilty of robbing and assaulting Anthony Franell, 23, at his former home at 1701 Nine Eighty Road.
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Lomax was convicted of aggravated assault, robbery, theft and criminal conspiracy to commit robbery. He faces a maximum of 67 years in prison.
Wade was convicted of robbery, theft, simple assault and criminal conspiracy to commit robbery. He faces a maximum of 49 years in prison.
The men will be sentenced at 11 a.m. March 24 by Washington County Judge Paul Pozonsky.
During the two-day trial, Franell testified that he picked up the men at a North Strabane Township restaurant and took them to his home on March 15. Franell said he had believed Wade had a golden necklace and pendant that he wanted to sell to him. The necklace had been stolen from Franell's home on Dec. 11, 2007.
At Franell's home, Wade returned the necklace. Franell took it upstairs and hid it under his mattress.
The men, who were high school friends, then smoked marijuana, played pool and recorded some music in Franell's recording studio. Franell said Lomax and Wade suddenly pulled guns on him and ordered him to his knees with his hands in the air.
Lomax kept Franell at gunpoint while Wade went upstairs to retrieve the necklace. As Franell went to stand, Lomax fired the four shots. Wade returned downstairs without the necklace, and the two men fled in Franell's Cadillac.
That, however, was not Franell's first version of the events.
The jury heard testimony that Franell initially told police that two masked men assaulted him. He then told hospital personnel who were treating him for his wounds that he was the victim of a drive-by shooting. He later changed that story.
Franell did not identify Lomax and Wade as the assailants until 10 days after the incident and after two meetings with township Detective Mark Marcucci.
Franell did not mention the golden necklace until November, when the defendants were originally set to go to trial. The jewelry was featured in a rap video, "I Got Your Chain," made by three area men at Jollick Manor and aired on YouTube.
In his closing arguments, Assistant District Attorney Michael Fagella told the jury that Franell was reluctant to involve the police. But he later decided that it would be the right thing to do to identify his assailants.
Fagella also pointed out that Franell could have identified the other men in the YouTube video, but he didn't because the theft "didn't happen that way."
Throughout the trial, defense attorneys Brian Gorman, who represented Wade, and Komron Jon Maknoon focused on Franell's conflicting stories. They called for the jury to acquit the men of all charges because Franell lacked any credibility.
"What kind of person is going to go through a trauma like that and keeps changing his story?" said Maknoon during his closing statement. "A person who's making it up."
The men will remain jailed on $100,000 straight bond pending their sentencing.
Both Wade and Lomax have been through the court system previously.
It was Wade's second time at trial. Last year, a jury acquitted Wade in the Sept. 29, 2005, shooting death of Susan VanSyckle and the shooting of Darnell Steven Brown of Washington.
Jurors convict robbery suspects : 1/14/2009
One wonders about the jury decisions in Washington County. In the Lomax decision, he was convicted of aggrvated assault and not attempted murder. When you shot someone, I guess Lomax decided he didn't want to kill him, just assault him with the bullet. And of course, some shots missed the target. We have observed a long and growing number of jury decisions in Washington County that have allowed "seemingly" guilty murderers to walk free. Of course we weren't part of the trials, but it sure is begiining like something is very lacking in our local court system, or the wisdom of the jurys.
: 1/14/2009
this is bullshit forreal.that man changed his story more than 3 times.how can you go from his stories ?
huh? : 1/14/2009
all three sound like real winners. its a same that these younf kids wanna play with guns, rob people and act like they are some type of gangsters ... the scary part is that they are supposed to be "our countries future" ... so far they seem like nothing more than another welfare check collection, drug dealin, non-educated drain on society ...
idiots : 1/15/2009
All three of these men should be locked up, then throw away the key! I'm sick of these stupid crimes plugging up our justice system. People like this need to get off the welfare and drugs and get jobs or else they can rot in jail. We pay for EVERYTHING for these a-holes. I bet they have great healthcare and a really cheap apartment and foodstamps while the rest of us bust out butts everyday at work to foot the bill for it all!!
losers : 1/25/2009
I wish they would have convicted him on the attempted murder charges. Corey Lomax has been living this lifestyle for years. Robbing, beating and shooting people, most of the times his own friends. He is nothing but a bad seed that should have been sowed before he could ever reproduce more wastes of life such as himself. He has never worked a day in his life. I hope he commits enough crimes in prison to keep him there for the rest of his life or to end his life. Good riddance. Nothing but hatred for you Corey Lomax.
what? : 1/27/2009
are u serious the man changes his story more then three times n didnt even envolve the two defendants until after drugs n guns was found in his residence. in washington county it seems better wether ur guilty or not to jus take a plea. the jury in this case n alot of others r obviously sleeping until the closing statements. no evidence, n only a witness who has made up different stories of the event of his shooting n u honestly sit there n say ..ya i liked the last story he told,,,it was good enough to find corey n mr wade guily( that is sad) there needs to be closer looks at who u are putting in the jury. because they have ppls lives in there hands.
think about this : 1/30/2009
people complain that you are paying for them? ... i know for a fact none of those men are on welfare, have public housing, or foodstamps so you are not paying anything for them. If you want to be technical now you are cause tax payer money goes to pay for people in jail as well. So you weren't paying anything for them before but now you are!
Dummy : 2/21/2009
I love the comments by the supporters of these guys. ON was innocent too - right?
welfare, food stamps, public housing : 7/1/2009
Um, most drug dealers can get buy without welfare.
