NEW CASTLE, Pa. — A third person is now facing homicide charges in connection to a triple murder in New Castle.
Jody Hammer, 41, who was initially charged with obstruction of justice, has now been charged with three counts of criminal homicide in connection with the Oct. 17 murders of Nichole Pumphrey; family friend Lawrence Cannon, 31; and her 10 year-old daughter, Amariah Emery.
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Police say an informant told them the shootings were a robbery gone wrong. Hammer was supposed to take Pumphrey to another room while Stephen Procopio and Anthony Cooper, both 19, robbed Cannon, police said.
But Hammer and Pumphrey allegedly began fighting, and Cooper then allegedly shot Cannon and Pumphrey, police said.
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The informant told police Cooper gave the gun to Procopio and told him to check out noises coming from the stairs. That's when Procopio allegedly shot once at Emery and twice at her sister.
The trio fled without taking anything, police said. It's not clear how they knew each other.
After the shootings, police say Hammer drove Cooper to Cleveland, where he boarded a bus to Detroit. Cooper was on the run for almost a month.
Procopio and Cooper are also charged with three counts of criminal homicide and being held in the Lawrence County Jail without bond.