Trending
HOLLIDAYSBURG -- Twelve jurors and four alternates were seated Monday in Blair County Court to hear second-degree murder and related charges against a 19-year-old Altoona man accused of a role in the Feb. 25, 2020, robbery and fatal shooting of 15-year-old Devon Pfirsching.
Damien A. Green, who is accused of helping plan the robbery and of running from the scene after a co-defendant fired the fatal shot, is slated to go on trial starting June 26.
In addition to second-degree murder, Green is charged with criminal conspiracy to commit robbery and inflict serious bodily injury, robbery to commit serious bodily injury and criminal use of a communication device.
District Attorney Pete Weeks explained Monday to potential jurors that while Green didn't shoot Pfirsching, Green is charged with second-degree murder. That offense, Weeks said, is referred to as felony murder because it's charged when a killing occurs, during the commission of a felony, in this case robbery.
Weeks told the jurors that it was Green's co-defendant, Owen Southerland, who fired the fatal shot that killed Pfirsching in the alley on the 100 block of Fourth Avenue. Weeks also mentioned co-defendants Logan Persing and Omedro T. Davis Jr., also teenagers, with roles in the events leading up to Pfirsching's death.
"They're all juveniles," the district attorney told the potential jurors and asked if that would be a concern in evaluating the evidence against Green. No one said yes.
When defense attorney Dan Kiss quizzed the jurors, he told them that his client was 15 years old at the time of the incident. When Kiss asked the jurors if that would influence them if selected for the jury, no one responded.
Kiss also asked the jurors if they could fairly evaluate a case involving drugs and a drug sale. Jurors revealed no issues.
The process of selecting Green's jury, which started in the morning and was slated to end by noon, was recessed for lunch to await the arrival of more potential jurors arriving in the afternoon.
"We don't have enough people to complete the process," President Judge Elizabeth A. Doyle explained to the morning potential jurors before sending them to lunch.
About half of the 60 jurors who reported for the morning selection process were dismissed, many because of scheduled vacation plans and prior knowledge of the case.
In the afternoon, Doyle apologized for the extra time that it took for county staff to compile a handwritten list of names representing jurors in the combined jury pool from the morning and afternoon sessions.
The judge explained that the computer system wasn't capable of combining the lists -- or couldn't do the job fast enough. She also praised the staff involved in handling the task.
"We never had to do this before," the judge said.
Green has been incarcerated for more than three years without bail, since Altoona police arrested him and his co-defendants shortly after the fatal shooting.
The co-defendants resolved their cases in adult court by pleading to charges in exchange for recommended sentences.
Green, meanwhile, attempted to have his charges addressed in juvenile court. That resulted in appeals and delays and the case's current status in the county's adult court.
Doyle, prior to starting the jury selection process, asked Kiss about the potential, prior to trial, for another appeal. Kiss told her that future appeals would be considered after trial.
"He'd like to stop sitting in limbo," Kiss said.
Doyle advised Green that if he's convicted of second-degree murder at trial, she will be obligated to impose a mandatory minimum sentence of 30 years' incarceration.
Co-defendant Southerland, who pleaded to first-degree murder, is serving 35 years to life, with the possibility of parole after 35 years.
Co-defendant Persing, who pleaded to third-degree murder, is serving 17 to 34 years;' incarceration, followed by 16 years' probation.
Co-defendant Davis, who pleaded to third-degree murder, is serving 10 to 20 years' incarceration.
Mirror Staff Writer Kay Stephens is at 814-946-7456.