Police: Alleged robber was former victim of robbery

Accused assailant stands charged in homicide case

In a strange tale of boys, guns and drugs, a teenager was robbed at gunpoint and then recruited by his assailants to rob another boy, police allege, and now stands charged in the Monroe County shooting death of a third boy.

One of the accused assailants said his rifle “accidentally fired,” during the holdup, leaving one teen dead and another wounded Sunday night in Polk Township, according to state police.

That alleged gunman, Anthony Mitchell, 18, of the 200 block of Hawthorn Lane, Polk Township, and another accused shooter, Michael Demuro-Correll, 15, of the first block of Trail Ridge Road, Kidder Township, Carbon County, are charged along with Justin Lemont, 18, of the 1000 block of Cub Court, Chestnuthill Township, in the death of Aiden Paiz, 15, of Polk Township, and the wounding of an unnamed 17-year-old boy.

All three are charged with criminal homicide, robbery and conspiracy. Mitchell is charged also with prohibited possession of a gun and Lemont is charged additionally with evidence tampering. All the accused as well as Paiz lived near one another in the woodsy housing developments in western

Monroe and eastern Carbon counties.

Demuro-Correll, who police say was the victim-turned-robber, is charged as an adult and is in Monroe County jail without bail, as are Mitchell and Lemont, in connection with the 7:19 p.m. shooting in a cul de sac on Squirrelwood Court near Sunset Lane in Polk Township.

Through interviews with the suspects and Mitchell’s sister and a review of social media messages between the suspects, police learned Mitchell’s sister drove Mitchell and Lemont to pick up Demuro-Correll, identified to police as a Crips gang member, at his home at about 7 p.m. Mitchell showed off an AR-15 rifle and Glock 9 mm handgun to the others, though police learned he’s banned from having any guns due to facing charges in an October 2019 Wilson robbery.

The group drove around the area, dropped Mitchell’s sister off, then drove to Demuro-Correll’s home. There Mitchell, with the handgun, and Lemont, with the AR-15, robbed Demuro-Correll of $120 and threatened him into contacting a 14-year-old boy he knew to set up a marijuana deal with the intent to rob the boy.

The suspects met the 14-yearold parked on Squirrelwood Court.

The boy was in the back seat of the vehicle, Paiz in front next to the 17-year-old driver.

Demuro-Correll, now armed with the handgun, went to the driver side while Mitchell, with the AR-15, went to the passenger side and Lemont remained behind the wheel of their car. Demuro-Correll demanded to see the marijuana, which the driver handed him, and then told the three in the vehicle he was going to rob them.

Mitchell later told police he “tapped” on the front passenger side window, where Paiz was sitting, and that the AR-15 “accidentally fired.” This prompted Demuro-Correll to fire the Glock, police said.

Paiz was hit in the chest while the driver was shot multiple times. The 14-year-old in the back seat ducked and wasn’t hit.

As Demuro-Correll and Mitchell ran back to their vehicle and took off, the wounded 17-year-old drove out of the cul de sac but stopped a short distance away. The 14-year-old called 911.

Paiz was pronounced dead at the scene by the Monroe County coroner’s office while the driver was taken by ambulance to Lehigh Valley Hospital-Pocono, where he was listed in stable condition.

Interviews with the surviving victims led police to identify Demuro-Correll, Mitchell and Lemont as the ones involved in the shooting.

Lemont told police the suspects put the guns and some clothes in a duffel bag and dumped it in the woods.