Parents testify in penalty phase of Clemons trial
Kathy Kunco Makowski waited more than three years to confront the man who brutally murdered her 21-year-old daughter, Karissa Kunco. As she glared at Jordan Clemons from the witness stand Tuesday, she struggled to compose herself.
Sobbing and shaking, Makowski told the jury how she constantly thinks about her daughter’s final moments.
“I relive the visions of what she went through over and over again. What were her last words? What were her last thoughts?” Makowski said in court. “My heart has been ripped out of my chest.”
Makowski and Karissa’s father, Paul Kunco, testified Tuesday on behalf of the prosecution in the penalty phase of Clemons’ trial. A Washington County jury found Clemons, 26, guilty Monday of first-degree murder after more than an hour of deliberation. During the penalty phase, mitigating and aggravating factors will be presented to the jury, which must then decide between a sentence of life in prison or death.
Both Makowski and Kunco said they think about their daughter daily. Holidays and things they shared with Karissa are no longer the same. At varying times, they made eye contact with Clemons, who stared back.
Makowski said Karissa was accepted into college before she was killed. She had hoped to become a pharmacist.
Aggravating factors in the case include the protection-from-abuse order Karissa got against Clemons from Allegheny County Court following a Dec. 18, 2011, assault that left her face bruised and battered and Clemons’ previous criminal history. Both were presented in court.
In 2006, Clemons punched a teacher at Glen Mills School, a residential facility for juvenile delinquents in Delaware County, several times in the face causing a laceration. Clemons was also convicted of two armed robberies in Canonsburg in 2009. He was sentenced to 11 ½ to 23 months in Washington County jail and 5 years of probation. Clemons was still on probation when he killed Karissa.
First Assistant District Attorney Chad Schneider said the law, in this case, requires the death penalty.
“Not all murders are subject to the death penalty, but this murder is subject to the death penalty,” he said in court.
Assistant Public Defender Charles Carpinelli, who is representing Clemons, along with Deputy Public Defender Brian Gorman, argued Clemons’ abusive childhood, drug use, prior brain injuries and the 2011 death of his older brother, Robert Clemons, were mitigating factors that justify a sentence of life in prison.
Robert Clemons Jr., Jordan’s father, testified about his son’s childhood and how it shaped him. He said that he beat his former wife and three kids and regularly used drugs and alcohol, all of which Jordan saw.
“I caused this,” the 58-year-old Westland resident said. “I failed him.”
Ebony Chandler, Clemons’ older sister, corroborated her father’s stories of abuse. She said Jordan changed after their older brother died.
“He didn’t handle his death well,” she testified. “The alcohol, drugs and aggression increased. Jordan considered (his older brother) his father.”
During Chandler’s testimony, the defense showed family photographs and videos, including those of his 7-year-old daughter and 5-year-old son.
Nine people testified for the defense Tuesday. All of them called Clemons a kind, good person. Several said Clemons sought rehabilitation after high school instead of attending college. Many of them talked about his abilities on the football field.
The defense will continue today with additional testimony. Gorman said in court Tuesday that the defense should wrap up its case today.