Surveillance Video Of Stolen Car Shown During Murder Trial
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) – Prosecutors used surveillance video of a stolen car during the trial of a young man accused of beating and stabbing an elderly woman in Clairton.
On an audio tape released at trial, the defendant, Johnie "Trey" Washington, denied involvement in the beating and stabbing of 82-year-old Florence Ranta of Clairton and the theft of her car back in 2007.
But prosecutors say physical evidence tied him to the crime. He was 15 at the time of her death.
The surveillance video shows the car driven to a gas station on
Route 51 hours after the crime.
The pictures were taken just a few hours after Ranta was admitted to Mercy Hospital. One of her neck wounds pierced almost to the bone. She eventually died.
When Washington was first questioned by police, he admitted driving the car, but said the whole idea of getting the car came from a friend.
He told police he had never been in Ranta's home and only knew her to see her. But investigators say her blood was on his clothing and that his fingerprint was on her phone inside the house.
The prosecution rested its case. The defense plans to focus on the defendant's psychiatric history and their contention that he does not have the ability to form the intent to kill.
