[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----PENN., MD., N.C.

[Rick Halperin]

Jan. 1, 2015



PENNSYLVANIA:

Death Penalty Sought in Scotty McMillan Beating Death in Chester County Home



Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for a Chester County couple accused 
in the beating death of Scotty McMillan - a case that shocked their community.

Gary Fellenbaum, the boy's mother Jillian Tait and Fellenbaum's estranged wife 
Amber Fellenbaum were formally arraigned Wednesday on charges stemming from the 
beating death of the 3-year-old Scotty McMillan. During the arraignment, 
prosecutors filed notice to seek the death penalty against Tait and Fellenbaum.

The 23-year-old man accused of brutally abusing and killing his girlfriend's 
son, twiddled his thumbs, looking down as he waived his right to a preliminary 
hearing earlier this month, according to witnesses in the courtroom.

Gary Fellenbaum and Tait face 1st-degree murder, child endangerment, assault 
and related charges stemming from the death of the 3-year-old West Caln, 
Pennsylvania boy. They have pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Amber Fellenbaum faces child endangerment charges.

All 3 suspects have remained in isolation in state jail, said prosecutors.

McMillan died from what investigators said was abuse at the hand of his mother 
and her boyfriend inside a West Caln Township trailer home that Chester County 
District Attorney Tom Hogan called an "American horror."

"(Scotty) was systematically tortured and beaten to death," said Hogan when he 
announced the arrests in early November. "He was punched in the face and in the 
stomach, he was scourged with a homemade whip, he was lashed with a metal rod, 
he was tied to a chair and beaten, he was tied upside down by his feet and 
beaten, his head was smashed through a wall and at the end of that he had 
bruises on top of bruises all over his body."

The abuse occurred over a 2-week period dating back to October in the Hope Lane 
home located about 35 miles west of Philadelphia, according to investigators.

Hogan said Scotty's mother sometimes watched the abuse and laughed.

Police said Gary Fellenbaum met Tait at a local Wal-Mart where they worked 
together. Tait and her 2 sons - Scotty and his 6-year-old brother - moved in 
with Fellenbaum in mid-October and the abuse began shortly thereafter, said 
investigators.

NBC10 is not naming this surviving boy since authorities said he is a victim of 
child abuse.

Fellenbaum expressed remorse that "his physical assaults caused another's 
death," according to a criminal complaint obtained by NBC10.

Amber Fellenbaum earlier told investigators she first became aware of the 
alleged abuse when she saw Fellenbaum spank Scotty after the boy didn't respond 
to Fellenbaum. She also said she saw Fellenbaum and Tait beat Scotty with a 
green frying pan and saw Fellenbaum tape Scotty to a chair and severely pummel 
the boy???s face and stomach.

The county took the older brother and the Fellenbaums' 11-month-old daughter 
into protective custody.

(source: NBCPhiladelphia)

******************

Pa. couple face death penalty in child's torture death



Prosecutors say they will seek the death penalty against a Philadelphia-area 
couple charged in the torture death of the woman's 3-year-old son.

Officials say Jillian Tait and Gary Lee Fellenbaum III went shopping and ate 
pizza as the boy lay dying after weeks of escalating abuse.

They have been formally charged Wednesday with murder, child abuse, conspiracy 
and other crimes during their video arraignment from a Chester County prison.

The Philadelphia Inquirer reports that the couple did not speak at the brief 
hearing. They have pleaded not guilty to the charges and earlier waived a 
preliminary hearing.

Authorities say Scott McMillan was hung upside and beaten with a frying pan 
before his Nov. 4 death in the family's mobile home in Coatesville. They say 
his 6-year-old brother was also abused.

(source: WGAL news)








MARYLAND:

Maryland governor commutes sentences for remaining death row inmates



Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley on Wednesday commuted the death sentences of 
the last 4 inmates remaining on death row, effectively ending capital 
punishment in the state.

Maryland lawmakers voted 2 years ago to abolish the death sentence for future 
offenders beginning 2013.

O'Malley, a Democrat and possible White House contender, on Wednesday said that 
leaving the last 4 prisoners to await the death penalty "does not serve the 
public good."

"In a representative government, state executions make every citizen a party to 
a legalized killing as punishment," he said in a statement.

The 4 prisoners, Vernon Evans, Anthony Grandison, Jody Lee Miles and Heath 
William Burch, had their sentences commuted by gubernatorial order to life in 
prison without the possibility of parole.

Opponents of capital punishment applauded O'Malley's move - which came just 
weeks before he leaves office after 2 terms as Maryland's governor.

"Today's announcement gives further hope that support for the discriminatory 
and fatally flawed death penalty is waning," Amnesty International USA said in 
a statement.

"The U.S. cannot be seen as a country that truly values human rights as long as 
it continues to execute its citizens," the group said.

All 4 inmates in Maryland were convicted of murder.

A family member of two victims told the Baltimore Sun newspaper she was 
"devastated" to learn that Heath Williams Burch's sentence had been commuted.

Burch was convicted of the 1995 murders of Robert Davis, 70, and Cleo Davis, 
77, the newspaper said. The Davises' daughter, Mary Moore, said she had asked 
the governor 3 times not to remove Burch from death row.

"He'll have a life, and I don't think he should," she said.

Baltimore County State's Attorney Scott Shellenberger, who supported retaining 
the death penalty in the state, said the capital sentences for all 4 men had 
been fair and upheld after numerous appeals.

"The governor should not be using his last days in office to show any mercy to 
these cold, calculating murderers," he said in a statement.

There are currently 3,054 inmates on death row in the United States, according 
to the Washington-based Death Penalty Information Center, which compiles 
statistics published by the Bureau of Justice.

Connecticut and New Mexico have also in recent years abolished the death 
penalty. But the laws in those states were not made retroactive, so 12 and 2 
prisoners remain on death row, according to the Death Penalty Information 
Center.

(source: The Virginia Gazette)








NORTH CAROLINA:

3 people receive death sentence in NC in 2014



Anti-death penalty groups say just 3 people were sentenced to die for their 
crimes in North Carolina last year, contributing to the lowest number of death 
sentences nationally in 40 years.

The N.C. Coalition for Alternatives to the Death Penalty reports defendants in 
Johnston, Iredell and Forsyth counties received the death penalty in 2014. In 
2013, 1 person was sentenced to death, and in 2012, no one was.

The Death Penalty Information Center reports the number of new death sentences 
nationally for 2014 was 72, the lowest level since 1974.

Former defense attorney Mark Rabil tells the Winston-Salem Journal that he 
believes juries are hesitant to impose the death penalty. Forsyth County 
District Attorney Jim O'Neill says North Carolinians support the death penalty 
for the most egregious crimes.

(source: Associated Press)