pennsylvania | My Crime Library

Abelle Ruiz Teen Killer Murders Girl Over Argument

Abelle Ruiz was fourteen years old when an argument between his girlfriend and two sisters would leave one of the teenagers dead. According to court documents Abelle Ruiz’s girlfriend was involved in an argument with two sisters. When Abelle Ruiz walked away from the situation he would open fire striking both sisters killing Aanya Ruiz, 16, and injuring her older sister. Abelle Ruiz would be arrested and later convicted of the murder. This teen killer would be sentenced to 25 to 50 years in prison

Abelle Ruiz More News

A Reading teen who fatally shot a teenage girl and wounded her sister in the city has been sentenced to 25 to 50 years in a state prison.

Abelle Ruiz, now 16, of the 400 block of McClellan Street, pleaded guilty Thursday to the third-degree murder of Aanya Ruiz, 16, and the attempted murder of her sister Aashyia Cook, 17, on Feb. 5, 2021.

The shooting occurred just days before he turned 15.

Abelle Ruiz was sentenced Thursday by Berks County President Judge Thomas G. Parisi.

District Attorney John T. Adams has said it’s the first time in his 15 years in office that the county has charged someone as young as 14 with homicide.

The shooting occurred in Oakbrook Homes after an argument between the victims and the defendant’s girlfriend, police said. Abelle Ruiz fired into the air, then shot at the sisters as they were running away, investigators said.

Aanya was shot in the back, and Aashyiah was shot in a leg, they said.

The Ruizes were not related.

According to investigators:

Abelle Ruiz left his home with his girlfriend and they encountered the sisters in the 1000 block of Scott Street near McClellan about 10:45 p.m.

A physical altercation ensued between his girlfriend and two sisters. The girlfriend she had ongoing issues with the 16-year-old sister over an unrelated homicide investigation.

The dispute intensified into a physical fight when she encountered them again on McClellan Street.

After the fight, she and Abelle walked away and went through a gate that leads to the rear yards of homes in the 400 block of McClellan.

Abelle told investigators that he overheard the sisters discussing with someone on a cellphone plans to have other individuals shoot him and his girlfriend.

He said that once in the yard he pulled out a 9 mm pistol and fired shots toward the sisters.

Aanya Ruiz was unconscious when police and medics arrived. Her sister was struck in the left leg.

Both were transported by ambulance to Reading Hospital, where the 16-year-old was pronounced dead a short time later.

Abelle Ruiz was arrested the next day and has been in custody since.

Reading teen sentenced to 25 to 50 years in prison for killing girl, wounding her sister

Dominic Carboni Teen Killer Charged In 2 Murders

Dominic Carboni is an alleged teen killer from Pennsylvania who has just been charged with a double murder. According to police reports Dominic Carboni would agree to meet the two victims through text messages in order to set up a drug deal however things quickly went south. Dominic Carboni would open fire killing Skyler Fox, 17, and Brandon Bacote-Byer, 18. Dominic Carboni would delete the text messages from his phone immediately after the shooting. Dominic Carboni would be arrested and has been charged with Carboni was charged with two counts first-degree, second-degree and third-degree murder as well as robbery,

Dominic Carboni More News

A 17-year-old boy from Montgomery County is charged with killing two teens Monday night in Pottstown in a drug deal gone bad, the district attorney and borough police chief reported on Facebook.

Dominic Carboni, of Schwenksville, was planning to meet 17-year-old Skyler Fox to buy marijuana, authorities said. A series of text messages between the two outlined the plans, authorities said, but Carboni would delete the messages on his phone just minutes after the gunfire at 11:33 p.m.

Video surveillance would show a maroon pickup truck that matched the vehicle that Carboni was driving and was owned by his father, authorities said.

A witness said Fox had a backpack over his shoulder as he crawled away from his vehicle near Fourth and Johnson streets, but it was gone minutes later, authorities said. Fox and Brandon Bacote-Byer, 18, were dead in the street, authorities said.

“This is another senseless killing of two teenagers over drugs, committed by a 17-year-old defendant who, for a variety of reasons, could not legally possess a gun,” District Attorney Kevin R. Steele said in the news release. “It is a tragedy for these families, and it’s got to stop. We are working diligently to go after people who buy guns and sell them to kids, sell them to convicted felons and sell them to others who can’t legally buy their own guns.”

Carboni was charged with two counts first-degree, second-degree and third-degree murder as well as robbery, authorities said. He was held without bail pending a preliminary hearing tentatively scheduled 11 a.m. on Nov. 3, authorities said.

Court papers do not list an attorney for Carboni.

https://www.lehighvalleylive.com/news/2022/10/17-year-old-charged-with-killing-2-teens-in-marijuana-deal-gone-bad-authorities-say.html

Drue Scott Burd Murders Infant

Drue Scott Burd is a man from Pennsylvania who was just sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the beating death of a sixteen month old infant. According to court documents Drue Scott Burd who was watching over sixteen month old Angela Elizabeth Jones Beard when he would beat the child so badly the infant would suffer severe neurological injuries that would cause her death. The murder which took place in 2018 when Drue Scott Burd was nineteen year old. Just before the trial began Drue Scott Burd would plead guilty to premeditated murder and would receive the life without parole sentence

Drue Scott Burd 2022 Information

Parole Number: 110KG
Age: 23
Date of Birth: 10/31/1998
Race/Ethnicity: WHITE
Height: 6′ 02″
Gender: MALE
Citizenship: USA
Complexion: LIGHT
Current Location: CAMP HILL

Permanent Location: CAMP HILL
Committing County: BLAIR

Drue Scott Burd More News

A 23-year-old Pennsylvania man will spend the rest of his life behind bars for violently killing his former girlfriend’s toddler daughter four years ago. Blair County President Judge Elizabeth A. Doyle on Friday ordered Drue Scott Burd to serve a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole for the 2018 slaying of 16-month-old Angela Elizabeth Jones Beard, court records reviewed by Law&Crime show.

Drue Scott Burd on Friday formally pleaded guilty to one count of premeditated first-degree murder in Angela’s death. In exchange for pleading guilty, prosecutors with the Blair County District Attorney’s Office agreed to drop additional charges that included one count each of aggravated assault, strangulation – blocking the nose and mouth of a person, endangering the welfare of a child, and simple assault. Prosecutors also agreed to take the death penalty off the table as a possible sentence.

“We’re moving forward with this plea today because it’s the most significant charge and provides for life in prison without the possibility of parole,” Assistant District Attorney Derek Elensky told Judge Doyle during the plea hearing, the Altoona Mirror reported.

The plea means Angela’s family will not have to endure the criminal trial that was scheduled to begin next month — a prospect that reportedly played into Burd’s decision-making process.

“I don’t want to put certain people through a trial,” Drue Scott Burd reportedly told the court when asked whether he was sure he wanted to plead guilty. “I already hurt a lot of people.”

Officers with the Altoona Police Department on May 20, 2018 responded to a 911 call about an unconscious toddler who was not breathing at a residence located in the 900 block of 23rd Avenue. Upon arriving at the scene, first responders reportedly found a then-19-year-old Drue Scott Burd attempting to perform CPR on Angela, who was in cardiac arrest.

Emergency Medical Services transported the toddler to the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center in Altoona. Due to the severity of her condition, Angela was airlifted to UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh for more specialized care. The toddler held on for several days but succumbed to her injuries and was pronounced dead on May 24.

When investigators interviewed Burd about Angela’s injuries, he reportedly admitted to covering her nose and mouth with his hand in an attempt to get the child to stop crying and go to sleep.

“I wasn’t trying to kill her, I was trying to put her out,” Burd told police, according to a criminal complaint obtained by Johnstown NBC affiliate WJAC-TV.

A pair of medical reports reached two separate conclusions on Angela’s cause of death. Per the Mirror, the initial medical report declared that Angela died due to a “massive neurological brain damage, suffocation, and abuse.” A second report concluded that Angela’s cause of death was “penetrating trauma” to the child’s anus. She also reportedly sustained abnormal bruising and lacerations caused by trauma.

ADA Elensky reportedly referred to the crime as “a brutal and senseless killing of a 16-month-old child,” adding that Angela “endured a cruel death.”

Burd’s defense attorneys had previously argued for more leniency towards Drue Scott Burd, saying that he was only 19 and had the brain development of a child at the time he smothered Angela, per WJAC.

Pennsylvania Man Sentenced for ‘Brutal and Senseless Killing’ of Girlfriend’s 16-Month-Old Baby Who Suffered ‘Massive Neurological Brain Damage’

Sharena Nancy Guilty In Nalani Johnson Murder

Sharena Nancy has pleaded guilty to the kidnapping and murder of two year old Nalani Johnson. According to court documents Sharena Nancy had been dating Nalani Johnson father and when he attempted to break up with her she would grab the two year old and take off. Sharena Nancy would then murder Nalani Johnson before abandoning the body of the child. Sharena Nancy would be arrested and charged with murder. As part of a plea deal Sharena Nancy plead guilty to third degree murder and kidnapping and would be sentenced to 15 to 30 years in prison

Sharena Nancy More News

Sharena Nancy, the woman accused of kidnapping and murdering 2-year-old Nalani Johnson, will spend at least 15 years in prison.

Nancy pleaded guilty to third degree murder and kidnapping in court Friday. She was sentenced to 15 to 30 years in prison

Police said Nancy, who was beginning a romantic relationship with Johnson’s father, abducted her from Penn Hills in 2019. After an Amber Alert, she was found dead in her car seat days later in an Indiana County park.

Investigators said Johnson, her father and another friend were with Nancy, who took off in the car the toddler was in after an argument about money.

The count of criminal homicide against Sharena Nancy was amended to third degree murder.

Sharena Nancy Other News

The Penn Hills woman charged with abducting and killing a toddler in 2019 agreed to a plea deal Friday in Allegheny County Common Pleas Court.

Sharena Nancy, 27, pleaded guilty on Friday to third-degree murder and kidnapping in the death of Nalani Johnson, who was just shy of 2 years old when she died.

Judge Bruce Beemer accepted the plea deal and the accompanying sentence for Nancy of 15 to 30 years in prison.

Nancy kidnapped Nalani on Aug. 31, 2019, from the Penn Hills home of the girl’s father, Paul D. Johnson.

Police said Ms. Nancy and Mr. Johnson and an on-and-off relationship, and Nancy took Nalani following an argument.

A large-scale search for Nalani took place across southwestern Pennsylvania in the days following her disappearance.

She was found dead about three days later in Pine Ridge Park in Indiana County. The Indiana County coroner’s office ruled Nalani’s death a homicide but said her body showed no signs of trauma.

Police said Nancy told investigators that Nalani’s father sold the girl to her for $10,000, though no evidence of such a transaction was found.

The murder led a state lawmaker to seek changes to how Amber Alerts are issued in Pennsylvania in the weeks following Nalani’s death.

As part of the plea deal, prosecutors withdrew three charges: interference with the custody of a child, concealment of children, and abuse of a corpse.

State Rep. Anthony DeLuca, D-Penn Hills, proposed the so-called “Nalani Johnson Rule” that would require the Missing Endangered Person Advisory System to be activated immediately when a parent or family member reports an abduction, thereby hastening the process for police to send out alerts. The bill was introduced but never made it to the House floor for a vote.

https://www.post-gazette.com/news/crime-courts/2022/04/01/woman-pleads-guilty-child-abduction-death-penn-hills-nalani-homicide-sharena-nancy-pine-ridge-park/stories/202204010111

Kimberly Maurer Murders Stepson

Kimberly Maurer is a woman from Pennsylvania who was convicted in the murder of her 12 year old stepson. According to court documents Kimberly Maurer and her husband Scott Schollenberger Jr, who is the father of Maxwell Schollenberger, would starve and beat the twelve year old boy until his body could not deal with the abuse any longer and died. Kimberly Maurer who was charged with several felony counts including murder and child endangerment would be convicted after the jury returned a verdict in a hour. Kimberly Maurer will be sentenced to life in June 2022 as the murder charge carries a mandatory life sentence.

Kimberly Maurer More News

It took a jury less than one hour Tuesday to find Kimberly Maurer guilty of homicide for the role she played in the death of 12-year-old Max Schollenberger.

Maurer was found guilty on multiple counts of criminal homicide, endangering the welfare of children, involuntary manslaughter and criminal conspiracy to endanger the welfare of children.

In September 2020 police filed charges against Maurer and Max’s father, Scott Schollenberger Jr. The couple, engaged at the time, lived with Max and his siblings in the first block of South White Oak Street in Annville Township.

Lebanon County District Attorney Pier Hess Graf said she was proud of this verdict, saying that this trial showed the juror’s “what pure evil personified looks like.”

“It shows how a child could be tortured, starved and punished in every way for existing,” she said. “And those twelve people stood up, looked (Maurer) in the face today and did right by that child.

On May 26, 2020, Annville Township Police and members of the Lebanon County Detective Bureau found Max’s 12-year-old body in his second-floor room.

The cause of death was prolonged starvation, malnutrition and blunt force trauma, according to officials. Max was found with a broken eye socket, and multiple signs of blunt force trauma.

The room was caked with feces and urine, according to witnesses. There was a plate of french fries and chicken tenders, along with a cup containing a little water. The boy was naked on the bed, in a room with no toys or furniture.

“Both the bed and the victim’s body were wholly covered in fecal matter,” court documents state. “The door and its frame contained three metal hooks … to lock the child in his bedroom.”

Max weighed 47.5 pounds and measured 50 inches tall at the time of death, significantly under what a child that age should be, according to officials.

Graf’s co-council, Montgomery County Assistant District Attorney Edward McCann, called this the worst child abuse case he’s been involved with in his 32 years as a prosecutor.

“Her kid was essentially tortured, jailed (and) basically his existence was erased while he was still alive,” he said. “I’ve never seen any crime scene that looked like this crime scene.”

Witnesses over three days testified that Maurer failed to enroll the 12-year-old in school for years, give him proper medical care, or give him proper treatment for possible physical and psychological problems he might have developed over the years.

“(Maurer) is one of the most manipulative defendants I’ve ever seen, in that every person she interacts with has to serve a purpose or that person has to get attacked,” Graf said.

The father, Scott Schollenberger, pleaded guilty in February to charges that included criminal homicide, endangering the welfare of children, and criminal conspiracy to endanger the welfare of children

He was sentenced to life in prison with no possibility of parole.

Maurer’s attorneys argued that Scott Schollenberger was the orchestrator of his 12-year-old son Max’s abuse and death. Maurer’s attorney, Andrew Race, said she should be convicted guilty of endangering the welfare of a child, but not more serious charges because Scott Schollenberger wouldn’t allow anyone else to make decisions for his son to get him the help he needed.

“The only thing Kim is guilty of is letting Scott control her, not doing more and not calling the police,” he said in his closing arguments.

Most of the prosecution’s case Thursday focused on Maurer’s Facebook posts, along with text messages and video recovered from her cell phone. Selected portions of these messages by Graf’s team showed Maurer describing an inability to control Max’s behavior, along with instances of Max urinating and defecating in the family’s home.

Officials wanted to ensure Maurer would be convicted of homicide, Graf said, but did not want to exploit Max in his most vulnerable moments.

“He had a face, he had a name (and) he had an existence that this defendant took away,” Graf said.

Maurer’s sentencing hearing is scheduled for June 1.

The Department of Human Services operates a 24/7 hotline to report suspected child abuse or concerns about the welfare of a child. ChildLine can be reached at 800-932-0313.

https://www.ldnews.com/story/news/local/2022/03/22/kimberly-maurer-found-guilty-in-death-of-max-schollenberger/65346155007/