Convicted killer resentenced to life
Staton’s death penalty vacated after mental fitness called into question
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Andre Staton, a 63-year-old native of Baltimore, will spend the rest of his life in prison for the murder of his estranged girlfriend which occurred more than 24 years ago, according to an order issued Thursday by Blair County Senior Judge Jolene G. Kopriva.
Staton was charged in February 2004 with the stabbing death of 26-year-old Beverly K. Yohn, who at the time had moved with her three young children from her apartment to her mother's home because of Staton's ongoing physical abuse.
Yohn had obtained a protection-from-abuse order, but, as her mother Penny Lantz explained in a recent interview, despite the PFA, Staton continued to pursue Beverly.
During the early morning of Feb. 25, 2004, he forced his way into the mother's home where he stabbed Beverly 12 times.
A Blair County jury in 2006 found Staton guilty of first degree murder and sentenced him to death.
Staton through the years appealed his conviction and sentence before the Pennsylvania Superior and Supreme Courts, but eventually sought review of his case in federal court.
After years of litigation, U.S. District Judge Joy Flowers Conti in Pittsburgh in July approved a proposal in which both the prosecution and defense agreed -- Staton was ineligible for the death penalty.
Conti vacated the death penalty and ordered a resentencing hearing, noting, "The state trial court judge will be legally required to impose a sentence at Count one, First Degree Murder, of life without the possibility of parole."
Staton's death sentence initially was imposed by now-retired judge Elizabeth Doyle.
On Thursday, Judge Kopriva, a former president judge who served on the Blair bench for 30 years, imposed the life sentence ordered by the federal court.
Staton will also serve additional sentences that were imposed by Doyle on burglary and theft charges.
Blair County District Attorney Pete Weeks pointed out that his goal was to make sure Staton will never be released from prison.
The Staton case has been in the appeals courts for more than 20 years, and Weeks commented on the strain that causes the families of victims.
"I can say it is incredibly difficult for families of victims to endure the appeal process provided for especially violent defendants," Weeks said.
Staton took his case before the Pennsylvania Superior and Supreme Court and, at one point, wanted to represent himself.
It was during that period Staton underwent examination to determine his competency to represent himself.
Experts from both sides were appointed -- Dr. Daniel Murrie of the University of Virginia for the defense, and Dr. Steven E. Samuel of Thomas Jefferson University Hospital for the prosecution.
Both sides agreed that Station was not competent to represent himself and Samuel questioned Staton's capacity to understand the legal implications of representing himself.
Attorney Julie Brain of Philadelphia was appointed to help Staton make decisions concerning his case.
In the end, both sides agreed that a 2002 decision by the U.S. Supreme Court in Atkins v. Virginia applied to the Staton case.
That case determined that sentencing a mentally retarded defendant to death is unconstitutional under the Eighth Amendment.
"I expect (Staton) to stay in jail the rest of his life," Weeks emphasized.
In the July interview, Yohn's mother talked about her daughter.
At first Staton was "sweet" toward Beverly, but then became physically abusive, she explained.
The impact of her daughter's death remains with her.
"She never leaves me," Lantz said of her daughter.
"What a beautiful child she was. God gave her to me. She was an angel ... a good person," she stated.
Beverly's brother Ralph attended Thursday's hearing, Weeks reported.
Staton remains incarcerated in the State Correctional Institution, Somerset County.