Man Guilty in Doulbe Kidnap Homocide from 2004
PITTSBURGH - A 24-year-old Pittsburgh man has been convicted of kidnapping and killing a 17-year-old girl and her boyfriend, and the same jury must now decide if he deserves the death penalty.
The Allegheny County jury convicted 24-year-old Lester Johnson on Monday of first-degree murder for killing Shawnte Betts, of Pittsburgh, and her boyfriend, 26-year-old James Jones, of Wilkinsburg, in July 2004.
Jones’ wife says she received a ransom call demanding $80,000 the night her husband disappeared.
Johnson’s co-defendant, 25-year-old Jaurvon Hopkins, of Pittsburgh, is jailed awaiting a separate trial.
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