Accomplice in fatal robbery of Delray patriarch gets 15 years
23-year-old agrees to testify against two other men.
WEST PALM BEACH — A 23-year-old man who said he participated in a fatal 2015 robbery orchestrated by the victim’s stepgrandson accepted a plea agreement Tuesday that will send him to prison for 15 years.
Desmond Davis, who along with Harut Saroyan and James Jones has been behind bars since shortly after the Feb. 6, 2015, shooting death of 65-year-old Lucanes Joseph, pleaded guilty to one court each of manslaughter and attempted murder.
Chief Assistant State Attorney Adrienne Ellis and defense attorney Jack Fleischman told Circuit Judge Glenn Kelley that Davis’ plea deal was contingent on his testimony against Jones and Saroyan, whose imprisoned stepfather was Joseph’s son.
Davis told Delray Beach police that it was Saroyan who approached him about robbing Joseph, telling him that Joseph was known to carry “50 stacks” — slang for $50,000. He told police he agreed to participate because the others told him he wouldn’t get paid unless he helped.
According to arrest reports, Davis said he initially acted as a lookout while Jones and Saroyan approached Joseph’s home in the 800 Block of Southwest Sixth Avenue. When Joseph came outside, he and Jones tussled, Davis said, and Jones hit Joseph several times in the head before he shot Joseph.
Davis told police that he also fired several shots in Joseph’s direction to “scare” him, but none of them hit him.
Joseph’s family members, who have attended most of the hearings in the case, were not in court Tuesday for Davis’ plea. After the hearing, Ellis said they agreed with the plea deal for Davis, whose testimony Ellis believes will be instrumental in securing convictions against Jones and Saroyan.
In July 2006, Joseph’s son, Anes, 37, married a woman who is the mother of Harut Saroyan and his older brother. Hovannes.
Six years later, according to court records, Anes Joseph was sentenced to more than five years in prison for smuggling guns to Haiti.
Saroyan’s mother and his defense attorney, James Lewis, both have said Saroyan is mentally disabled. However, as of Tuesday, there was no formal filing in his case of any intent to pursue a defense related to a diminished mental capacity. Saroyan’s mother, Marine Joseph, said her son was hit by a car while riding a bicycle when he was 6 and suffered significant brain damage. Lewis also has claimed that Davis had visited Joseph’s house to buy guns at some point before the shooting.
Both Saroyan’s and Jones’ trials are set for August.
Joseph’s family agreed with the plea deal.