Pair plead guilty in city murder case
Payne facing sentence of life in prison, Lewis likely to receive at least 20-40 years
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Payne
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HOLLIDAYSBURG -- Two people have pleaded guilty to murder and related charges in a drug-selling dispute that left two people dead of gunshot wounds inside an Altoona residence on May 28, 2020.
Isiah "Zay" Payne, 35, Philadelphia, who pleaded guilty in Blair County Court on Tuesday to two counts of first-degree murder, is facing life-in-prison sentences for the deaths of Mikal Jackson-Stevenson, 28, Philadelphia, and Natalie Washington, 52, Altoona.
Onya Lewis, 34, who lived in Gallitzin at the time of the fatal shooting, also pleaded guilty on Tuesday to two counts of third-degree murder and related offenses, for a sentence to be handed down by Blair County President Judge Elizabeth A. Doyle.
Sentencing hearings are to be scheduled in December for both Payne and Lewis who have been in the county prison since their arrests in mid-July 2020.
Doyle, after accepting pleas from both Payne and Lewis, dismissed about 175 potential jurors who were at the courthouse to be considered for the panel in the joint trial where Payne would face the possibility of a death penalty sentence if the jury convicted him of first-degree murder.
District Attorney Pete Weeks told Doyle on Tuesday that in exchange for Payne's guilty pleas, he would withdraw the request for a death penalty sentence.
After the court hearing, Weeks said he still supports the death penalty but recognized the benefit of the negotiated plea.
"Right now, Pennsylvania has its second governor who refuses to enforce the death penalty ... and it's become a means to lengthen the appeal process," Weeks said. "This resolution offers the victims' families more immediate closure."
First Assistant District Attorney Nichole Smith also described Payne's life-in-prison sentence as merited by his actions.
"He took responsibility for ending both lives," Smith said, referencing Payne's in-court admissions where he told Doyle that he was guilty of the intentional killings of Jackson-Stevenson and Washington.
"In exchange for their lives, he will be incarcerated for the rest of his life," Smith said.
Payne, represented by defense attorneys Richard Corcoran and Thomas Hooper, responded politely as Doyle quizzed him about his decision to render pleas instead of pursuing a jury trial.
Doyle advised Payne that prior to his sentencing hearing, he could ask to withdraw his pleas. But the judge cautioned that she could reject that request in light of the extensive efforts to prepare for the joint trial, which was scheduled to start on Monday.
"I understand," Payne told the judge.
Lewis also said little in court when she entered guilty pleas to two counts of third-degree murder instead of two counts of second-degree murder, as originally charged by Altoona police, and to all the related charges Altoona police filed against her.
"This was a decision that Onya did not arrive at lightly," defense attorney Kristen Anastasi said Tuesday. "She pled in exchange for the commonwealth agreeing to a lesser charge that does not carry a life sentence."
While the state assigns a penalty of 20 to 40 years' incarceration for third-degree murder, Doyle will have the option of imposing additional incarceration time for Lewis' other crimes that include robbery, conspiracy to commit robbery, drug-trafficking offenses and flight to avoid apprehension.
"We will be asking for more than 20 to 40 years," Smith said Tuesday.
Anastasi and Lewis are expected to make a plea for leniency.
"Our focus is on sentencing and ensuring that the judge gets to see the full picture of who Onya is beyond this event," Anastasi said.
Weeks and Smith said the evidence in the case they were prepared to offer at trial would have identified Lewis as a drug-trafficker working with Jackson-Stevenson, Payne and Washington to distribute cocaine in Altoona. They said her phone contained information about cocaine sales and amounts owed.
In pretrial court hearings, Lewis attempted to challenge her murder charges by portraying herself as someone who gave Payne a ride to Washington's house where Payne was expected to meet with Jackson-Stevenson over a $2,000 drug debt and complaints that Payne was selling crushed-up pills.
Weeks and Smith said Lewis had a greater role in the drug selling operation. It was her DNA on the gun that Payne carried into Washington's residence and used to kill Washington and Jackson-Stevenson, the prosecutors said.
Trial evidence also showed Lewis dropping Payne near Washington's residence, then driving to a nearby location where she picked up Payne.
"To say they were working in concert is an understatement," Weeks said.
Altoona police, in filing charges against Payne, said he confessed to killing Jackson-Stevenson out of fear that Jackson-Stevenson would kill him. Police said Payne told them he fired two shots at Washington as she cried out, including one that struck her in the back of her neck when she tried to flee.
Police said that when they interviewed Lewis, she told them that after she picked up Payne and they were on their way to Gallitzin, Payne admitted to shooting Jackson-Stevenson and Washington.
After a trip to Philadelphia and Delaware, the couple subsequently went to Johnstown and rented a U-haul, then packed up belongings in Gallitzin and moved for a short time to Johnstown. Charges indicate that they drove to Georgia where they stayed in a hotel for a few weeks.
U.S. Marshals took the pair into custody on July 10, 2020, in New Castle, Del., and arrangements were made to have them returned to Blair County.
Weeks said Tuesday that this was a case involving not only Altoona and Logan Township police but also state police, the state Attorney General's Office and law enforcement agents in Philadelphia, Delaware and Florida.
"This case is an example of what can be accomplished when you work as a team," Weeks said.