[Deathpenalty]death penalty news --- PENN.

[Joerg Sommer]

death penalty news

December 21, 2004


PENNSYLVANIA:

Prosecutors to seek death penalty in pregnant woman slaying

Prosecutors will seek the death penalty against a man accused of fatally 
shooting his pregnant wife as she tried to flee from their home.

Johnathan Robert Tusa, 24, fired several rounds from a semiautomatic at his 
wife, 21-year-old Dawn Elizabeth Tusa, early Dec. 12 as she backed out of 
the couple's Penn Township home, police said. She crashed a short distance 
away.

Tusa, who as captured by police at his father's home in Mahoning County, 
Ohio, is charged with homicide and homicide of an unborn child. She was two 
months pregnant and police said Johnathan Tusa wanted her to end the pregnancy.

Butler County District Attorney Tim McCune said the case warranted the 
death penalty. State law permits prosecutors to seek the death penalty if a 
victim is in the third month of pregnancy or if the defendant knew she was 
pregnant.

"We've consistently held that if we can prove aggravating circumstances in 
a homicide, we would seek the death penalty," he said.

Tusa's attorney, Stephen Misko, declined Monday to discuss the case.

Tusa is being held in Butler County prison without bond and faces a 
preliminary hearing Jan. 21.

(source: AP / CentreDaily.com)