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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A 26-year-old man has been charged with kidnapping after an incident involving a 14-year-old girl in Ipswich.
Suffolk Police said Hector Seaman, of no fixed abode, was arrested after the incident, which happened in Bucklesham Road.
He was also charged with failing to provide a breath test, a police spokeswoman said.
Mr Seaman was due to appear before Ipswich Magistrates Court on Wednesday to face the charges.
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Court records show that a Baltimore man charged in a kidnapping and fatal shooting has been arrested and charged at least 37 times previously.
Thirty-two-year-old Sherman Anderson is charged with first-degree murder, kidnapping and more than a dozen other offenses in the death of 24-year-old Qonta Waddell.
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