Criminal Call is scheduled for several dozen defendants in Indiana County Court today, including two men accused of taking part in the brutal murder of a Blairsville man in 2014.
43-year-old Michael Eades Jr. of Tyrone and 31-year-old DeAndre Jones of Baltimore, Maryland are charged with criminal homicide in the execution-style death of 37-year-old Tyron Howard at Howard’s apartment. The other two defendants, Stanley Boynton and Kevin Lee King, both of Altoona, are not listed for Criminal Call today.
Howard was found bound to a chair and gagged, and had been stabbed repeatedly with a 22-inch sword. After an 18-month investigation, the four men were arrested, and at a preliminary hearing last June, King and Boynton testified against Eades and Jones, saying it was an argument over drug money and that they were shocked when Eades pulled a gun on the victim, then using a sword that belonged to Howard, Eades and Jones stabbed him to death. Both King and Boynton denied they took part in the attack.
King and Boynton were offered reduced charges in exchange for their testimony, but those charges still do not appear on their docket sheets, which could indicate that the court is still considering them. Their names are on the Criminal Call list for next month.
Eades last month filed a motion to reserve the right to file pre-trial motions. The attorney for Jones last week was granted a motion to hire a computer forensics expert to aid in the preparation for his client’s trial.
