N. Versailles woman sentenced in slaying of Penn Hills man
A North Versailles woman described as playing a pivotal role in the kidnapping and slaying last year of a Penn Hills man in a drug deal gone bad was sentenced to 20 to45 years in prison Wednesday.
Erica Harris, 25, the third and finaldefendant to be sentenced in the March 24, 2016, death of Saveon Scott-Ponder, 21, remained stoic as she was sentenced by Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge AnthonyMariani.
Judge Mariani told Harris she was “promoting the violence from the start.” That echoed comments by Assistant District Attorney Chelsie Pratt, who said the kidnapping and death of Mr. Scott-Ponder would not have happened without Harris’ “participation and facilitation.”
Harris pleaded guilty May 8 to third-degree murder, kidnapping and conspiracy in connection with theslaying in Beltzhoover.
Her co-conspirators — Johnnie L. Raines III, 21, of Perry South, and Mitchell Brian Coles, 23, of Marshall-Shadeland — also pleaded guilty to the same charges. Coles was sentenced to 20 to 50 years and Rainesto 20 to 45 years.
Harris’ attorney, Frank Walker, argued that she deserved a more lenient sentence, both because she cooperated with
authorities and to spare her daughter the difficulty of growing up without a mother.
According to Ms. Pratt, Harris gave the victim $800 to buy marijuana. However, when they got back together he had neither the drugs nor the money. Believing she had been burned on the deal, Harris got her boyfriend, Coles, and picked up his good friend, Raines, Ms. Pratt said.
Harris drove the men to Boggs Avenue to Mr. Scott- Ponder’s home. They put him in her car, and as they were driving, the victim jumped out of the moving vehicle. Raines chased him, followed by Coles, the prosecutor said. Surveillance video captured the foot pursuit.
Coles and Raines caught Mr. Scott-Ponder and put him back in the car. Harris drove two miles to Buffington Avenue, the prosecutor said. Harris parked on the dead-end street, and Coles and Raines led the victim into the woods, Ms. Pratt said. The men ordered Mr. Scott-Ponder to take off his shoes and then shot him14 times.
Ms. Pratt argued that Harris had ample time to think about what she was doing and stop what was happening when she was in control of the vehicle driving from Mr. Scott-Ponder’s house to the wooded area where his body was found.
And though Harris wasn’t theone who pulled the trigger, “All these things could not have happened without her. Ms. Harris drove [Coles and Raines] to the victim and physically transported him to an isolated area,” Ms. Pratt said. “[Coles and Raines] essentially acted as her muscle.”
Mr. Walker, the defense attorney, argued his client could not have gotten possession of the gun while she was driving and asked the court to take that into consideration in her sentencing.
Harris apologized to her friends and family, as well as Mr. Scott-Ponder’s family.
“I’ve had a lot of time to reflect on the decisions I’ve made. I am sorry and I hope that God will forgive me,” she said. “I am rehabilitated as a better person. I ask to not be written off so I can teach my daughter right from wrong.”
Judge Mariani said he was hesitant to believe Harris “100 percent because of her actions in this case,” referring to contact she had with Coles while on bond.
Ms. Pratt said the commonwealth originally had an agreement with Harris for a sentence based only on the charges of kidnapping and conspiracy to commit kidnapping if she gave a recorded statement and did not have any contact with her co-defendants. But, Ms. Pratt said, prosecutors determined that Harris withheld information and lied by saying she didn’t know there was a gun in the car. Harris also talked to Coles “almost daily” over the phone while they were in jail, Ms. Pratt said.
“You demonstrated you were going to protect Mr. Coles,” Judge Mariani told Harris. “She’s helping the bad guy and not the commonwealth.You pose a substantial threat to the community, and today you’re going to be held accountable.”
Mr. Scott-Ponder’s mother, brother and sister gave impact statements Wednesday and spoke of him as a man dedicated to his job and family. They asked the court to give Harris the maximum sentence possible.
“No person should have the audacity to play God and takes someone’s life,” said Carla Knight, Mr. Scott-Ponder’s sister.