Former drug gang member sentenced for two counts of homicide in the third degree

Devon Wyrick, 28, put smoking guns in two drug gang members' hands — one of those being his older brother, Samson Washington, 30 — with his testimony during their double murder trial in November held in the Somerset County Courthouse.

Washington, along with another gang member, Marekus Benson, 32, were found guilty at the end of a jury trial, to two counts of first-degree murder, one for each man killed. They both were sentenced last week to two life sentences without parole, two days before Wyrick was sentenced to 21 years to 80 years for third-degree murder for his role in the incident.

The prosecution and the defense pointed to Wyrick's testimony as the catalyst for the guilty verdict of his brother and his friend by the jury. Initially, Wyrick was a co-defendant in the case, but agreed to testify against the other co-defendants. In exchange he pleaded guilty to two counts of murder in the third degree just days before the trial began and was severed from the case.

Upcoming:Three-week murder trial related to Somerset prison correctional officer's death set

During the trial Wyrick looked into his brother's eyes from the witness stand to where Washington sat at the defense table. At one time he cried when he told the jury how his brother said he still loved him and he needed to save himself.

Wyrick's participation with the prosecution, his truthful rendition of what happened during his testimony and his limited participation in the crime — an observer of the killing of two Cambria County friends who stole drugs and money from the gang's stash house in Johnstown — opened the door to a plea agreement.

Somerset County Judge Scott Bittner presided over the trial and all the hearings once the double murder case was arraigned in the Somerset County Court of Common Pleas. He sentenced Wyrick on Friday to a minimum of 21-years in a state prison. Wyrick was given 1,488 days or just mover four years for time served while awaiting trial and then awaiting sentencing, the judge ordered.

The judge said the reasons for the sentence was because Wyrick cooperated with the prosecution at trial and did participate (as a witness).

However, Bittner pointed out that "the defendant participated in the murder of two individuals."

Instead of crafting the sentence for Wyrick to be concurrent, which would have meant he could be paroled after serving 10.5 years of incarceration, Bittner ordered that the two counts be consecutive, making the minimum 21 years. For each count, the judge sentenced Wyrick to 126 months or 10.5 years to 480 months or 40 years. He then basically added them together for 21 years to 80 years.

The crime

After being taken by gunpoint from an orchestrated drug buy at the Galleria Mall in Johnstown, James Smith, 32, and Damian Staniszewski, 19, who admitted to stealing large quantities of drugs and money from the East Main Money Gang out of Columbus, Ohio, were tied, beaten and terrorized in the basement of a house along Boyer Avenue in Johnstown. Members of the gang placed the two men in their vehicle and were driven just over the border into Somerset County at a wooded area along Ligonier Pike in Conemaugh Township in the late afternoon of March 27, 2017. Once there, Smith and Staniszewski were shot to death and their bodies were left behind.

The friends' families reported them missing under what police called "suspicious circumstances" a day after they went missing. That same day, Conemaugh Township police located a vehicle known to be operated by Staniszewski along nearby Somerset Pike.

Their skeletal remains were found in October of 2017 by a hunter.

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At the trial, Wyrick testified that drugs and money were discovered by the gang in the men’s vehicle, however, not all that was missing from the theft.

Wyrick testified that Benson, known on the street by the nickname Trig, pulled his gun and shot a bullet into Smith's back, knocking him down. He tried to shoot again but his gun jammed, Wyrick said.

Then Washington told his brother and Benson to stay put with Smith and Staniszewski. He left and returned sometime later with another gun, Wyrick testified. Washington shot twice into the heads of both Smith as he lay on the ground, and Staniszewski, who was close by. The shooters and Wyrick then left the two men's bodies behind in the wooded area. They took off and ditched the two vehicles associated with the two dead men and went back to a house in Johnstown, he testified.

Another gang member, DeAndre Callender, was charged with murder and was a defendant in the trial. Bittner partially granted the defense's request to dismiss charges against Callender and the jury found him not guilty of the remaining charges he still faced.

What he had to say

"I want to say how sorry I am to the families. I know it was wrong," Wyrick said. "At the end of the day, I want you to know I mean it. I'm not just saying it. I really know right from wrong. It was wrong.

"Sorry doesn't fix it. I know that," he said.

At trial:Double murder trial day 3: Fathers of the victims testify about the day their sons went missing

Restitution

Wyrick, along with Washington and Benson, were ordered to pay the cost of the two murdered men's funeral. The amount was just short of $4,500 to be paid to Smith and Staniszewski's fathers.

This article originally appeared on The Daily American: Former Columbus, Ohio, man sentenced for two counts of homicide in the third degree