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Former Babysitter Sentenced To Life For Killing Woman, Her Kid And Her Boyfriend
Steven Procopio was one of two people convicted in the 2018 murders of a women for whom he'd babysat, Nichole Pumphrey, her daughter, Amariah Emery, and her boyfriend, Lawrence Cannon.
A Pennsylvania man will spend the rest of his life in prison after being convicted of the murders of three people.
Steven Procopio, 23, was sentenced to life in prison on Friday after being convicted of the 2018 murders of mom Nichole Pumphrey, 31, her daughter Amariah Emery, 10, and Pumphrey's boyfriend Lawrence Cannon, 31, the New Castle News reported.
On Oct. 27, A jury found Procopio guilty of second degree murder in the deaths of Pumphrey and Emery and third degree murder in Cannon's death. His sentence offers no possibility of parole.
Police alleged that Procopio and Anthony “Mook” Cooper, 23, went to Pumphrey's home to rob her on the night of Oct. 15, 2018. Prosecutors said that Cooper shot Cannon once in the face as the two slept on the living room couch, shot Pumphey twice in the face after she woke up and then handed the gun to Procopio when they heard noises upstairs, according to the New Castle News.
The noises were coming from 10-year-old Emery and her four siblings — ages 9, 7, 4 and 14 months — for whom Procopia had once babysat, New Castle Police Chief Robert Salem told CBS News at the time. They had all been upstairs during the shooting, the paper reported at the time.
Emery, carrying her 14-month old sister, came down the stairs with her 7-year-old sister in tow. Procopia shot her in the face and allegedly attempted to shoot the 7-year-old as she ran back upstairs. (That girl, now 11 years old, testified against him at his trial, the New Castle News reported.)
Police were called to the home the following morning at 8:43 a.m. and found the bodies of Pumphrey, Emery and Cannon.
Nichole Pumphrey's sister, Lisa Pumphrey, said in a victim impact statement at Procopia's sentencing that the four surviving children saw the bodies before police arrived.
“I can’t imagine the last thought you had before you decided to pull that trigger, while you were standing there looking at her holding her baby sister," Lisa Pumphrey said to Procopia on Friday, according to the New Castle News.
Procopia maintained before and after his conviction that Cooper shot all three people.
Cooper pleaded guilty in January to two counts of third degree murder for Pumphrey and Cannon's deaths, the paper reported, as part of a deal to ensure his testimony against Procopia. Prosecutors dropped the third murder charge as part of the deal, and Cooper was sentenced to 15-30 years in prison.
Prosecutors had refused to cut a deal with Procopia.
“The commonwealth is not willing to offer immunity or to broker a deal with Steven Procopio, because of his alleged involvement with the killing of a 10-year-old child,” Lawrence County District Attorney Joshua Lamancusa told the paper after Cooper's sentencing.
