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Jury sentences Jordan Clemons to death for first-degree murder of Karissa Kunco

WASHINGTON, Pa. — After hours of deliberation, a jury  has sentenced a man to death for the January 2012 slaying of his girlfriend in Mount Pleasant.

Jordan Clemons, 26, was convicted of the first-degree murder of Karissa Kunco, 21.

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Prosecutors say that Clemons slit Kunco’s throat so deeply that the knife hit her spine.

Her body was found in the woods, and her car was found still running and full of blood about 7 miles away from the scene of the crime.

Though Kunco had filed a protection from abuse order against Clemons for beating and scratching her, she agreed to meet up with him after an exchange of messages.

One of the messages from Clemons read, “If I don’t see you, I’m killing myself. If you can live with my blood on your hands, OK.”

Kunco responded that she would meet up with Clemons after work, though prosecutors said she repeatedly told Clemons she was afraid of him, writing, “I’m beyond scared of you,” and “I’m sick thinking about meeting you.”

The defense called expert witnesses to the stand Wednesday to discuss Clemons' brain injuries.

Dr. Sue Beers, with the University of Pittsburgh, testified that when Clemons was given an MRI, CAT scan and other tests in February, there were abnormal images all around his brain.

Beers listed reasons that Clemons gave her for the possible mild brain trauma, which included being battered by his father, falling down stairs, blacking out after being hit, football injuries, playground accidents and car crashes.

Beers did not have medical records to support those claims. Prosecutors only had a medical report of a football injury from 2006 on file, and a CT scan showed no injury at that time.

Clemon’s father, Robert Clemons, testified Tuesday, saying that when his son was growing up, he beat him like a grown man and also his wife.

“I'm not going to say it led to the murder, but a lot of my past actions contributed to things that brought out anger in him,” he said. “His father, who used to be Superman in his eyes, had failed him. That’s the bottom line. That’s what I did.”

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