Separate trials have been granted for two Ridgway residents facing the death penalty for the 2016 bludgeoning death of a 5-year-old boy.
Scott Murphy, 27, and Kristy Murphy, 36, each face charges including criminal homicide for the death of their nephew, who was living with them at the time of his death. The boy’s cause of death was ruled to be blunt force trauma to the head.
Elk County District Attorney Shawn McMahon filed paperwork in June 2016 revealing his intention to seek the death penalty against both defendants.
A hearing on several motions was held Friday in Elk County Court before President Judge Richard Masson.
A subsequent order filed by Masson granted separate trials and addressed other motions filed on behalf of the Murphys by their lawyers. Kristy Murphy is represented by DuBois attorney Gary Knaresboro, while Scott Murphy is represented by Punxsutawney attorneys John Ingros and Fred Hummel.
The order also indicates that any sentencing hearings following the trial will be held separately for each defendant.
Masson also granted a motion from Scott Murphy to suppress “evidence relating to interviews conducted by caseworkers of Elk County Children and Youth Services,” the order stated.
Some motions are not yet resolved.
Masson asked both sides to submit memoranda by May 4 regarding the following: Motions from both defendants to dismiss the case for lack of sufficient evidence, and a motion from Scott Murphy asking Masson to reject aggravating circumstances asserted by McMahon.
The aggravated circumstances McMahon alleges — that Scott Murphy killed the child while committing the felony of aggravated assault, and that the death occurred by means of torture — could qualify Murphy for the death penalty.
Masson allowed a continuance of a hearing on motion from both Murphys to bar the death penalty and to bar a death-qualified jury — a jury fit to hear a capital punishment case based on their views of capital punishment.
According to testimony given at the June 8, 2016, preliminary hearing, the autopsy revealed there were 20 impact marks on the boy’s skull, and that only Scott and Kristy Murphy would have had the opportunity to cause the injuries.
Prosecutors allege it was either Kristy or Scott Murphy who caused the injuries but do not specify which one.
In their motions, the Murphys’ attorneys assert that prosecutors failed to provide evidence that either actually killed the boy or intended to kill him.
Both motions refer to a previous case where it was found “the death penalty is disproportionate for a defendant who aides (sic) and abets felony in the course of which murder is committed by others but who does not himself kill or intend that killing take place.”
No hearing or trial dates have been set.
On Feb. 3, 2016, police and emergency medical crews were dispatched to the Main Street, Ridgway, apartment for a report of a 5-year-old child unconscious and not breathing. Officials reported they believed the boy had been dead for several hours.
The apartment had little or no heat, and there were animal feces and decomposing garbage throughout the residence, according to police.
Police seized a blackjack and a broom handle from the residence that could possibly been used to cause the injuries to the boy, but the investigators have stated the injuries could have been inflicted with a different object.
The Murphys remain incarcerated without bail.
