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Man convicted of killing pregnant woman in Beaver County granted new trial

BEAVER COUNTY, Pa. — A man convicted of killing a pregnant woman in Beaver County in 2012 was granted a new trial Monday.

Marlin Kelly was found guilty of the second-degree murder of Coco Finney and her unborn child, but he'll get a second chance to prove he's innocent after the Pennsylvania State Court vacated the judgment.

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“The court today, the Superior Court, sent the case back, so we're very pleased,” Kelly’s defense attorney, Stephen Colafella, said. “As of this moment, I don’t think he knows unless it's reached the jail, so we're very excited to report it to him.”

Police said Kelly and Tyrone Fuller in 2012 went to an apartment in Ambridge, where heroin had just been sold. The alleged rival drug dealers showed up as a pregnant Finney, 30, was leaving the apartment, which was her boyfriend’s. She was shot once in the chest and died along with her unborn baby.

Kelly was found guilty of second-degree murder in 2014 and sentenced to two life terms. In his appeal, Colafella argued that Beaver County Judge Kim Tesla accepted jurors who had conflicts in the case, including a police officer who had previously worked with two of the prosecuting attorneys.

“We were afforded a finite number of challenges and unfortunately had to exhaust those challenges on jurors that were clearly not qualified and articulated some prejudices,” Colafella said.

Meanwhile, Finney’s loved ones were upset to learn that Kelly is getting a new trial.

“It was beyond frustrating because of the fact that someone didn’t dot an “I” or cross a “T” and now the taxpayers have to foot the bill for a cold-blooded murder,” Carla Murray, the mother of Finney’s fiancé, said.

Murray said if there’s a new trial, she’ll be there to see justice served just like she did the first time around.

“I will not miss a day, not a minute,” she said.

Colafella said he expects a retrial in the next four months, but the district attorney’s office has the option to appeal to the Supreme Court.

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