Jury imposed penalty for fatal shooting, dismemberment of 16-year-old
By Kathleen Brady Shea, Managing Editor, The Times
Laquanta Chapman received the death penalty for the murder of Aaron Turner.
The Coatesville man convicted last week of fatally shooting his 16-year-old neighbor, dismembering the body with a chainsaw, and stuffing the carnage into garbage bags, remained impassive as he was sentenced to death tonight.
After about three hours of deliberations, the jury concluded that the aggravating factors outweighed the mitigating ones in the murder of 16-year-old Aaron Turner at the hands of Laquanta Chapman, 33.
The panel’s decision, which marked an infrequent occurrence in Chester County, prompted an outpouring of gratitude from half a dozen of the victim’s relatives. “Thank you, thank you” they repeated, making eye contact with some of the jurors.
The verdict capped an emotionally-charged day and a half of testimony in the death-penalty phase of the trial, which was prompted by Chapman’s first-degree murder conviction.
“God is so good,” said Angeline Blaylock, the victim’s mother. “We fought and we fought for our baby, and we finally got justice.”
Chief Deputy District Attorney Patrick Carmody said the justice was well-deserved. He said the family’s grief was repeatedly compounded – from the agony of determining why Aaron had disappeared to revelations about the viciousness of the killing to delays in bringing the case to trial.
Defense attorneys J. Michael Farrell and Evan Kelly left the courthouse without comment, but Kelly said earlier that the first-degree murder conviction would be appealed, regardless of the outcome of the penalty phase.
In his closing argument, Carmody explained that Chapman’s criminal history – two previous convictions for aggravated assault – constituted an aggravating factor. Unless the jury found that mitigating factors existed, the “verdict must be death,” he said. And if any juror accepted the presence of a mitigating factor, then it must be weighed against the impact of Turner’s death on his family.
Farrell argued that “traumatic, toxic effects of adverse childhood experiences” shaped his client’s behavior. He pointed out that Chapman grew up in a violence-ridden section of Newark, N.J., known as “Brick City.” Chapman’s father was imprisoned for assaulting his infant son, who was placed in foster care because his mother was a drug addict, Farrell said.
Although Chapman experienced affection and stability from his foster parents, he eventually ended up back with his mother, who had moved to Coatesville after continuing to battle drugs, Farrell said. Chapman had a chance to turn his life around, but he returned to Brick City.
The violent death of his drug-dealing cousin, Michael Chapman – killed in a shootout with police – also had a negative impact, Farrell said. Referencing the testimony of Kenneth Weiss, a forensic psychiatrist, Farrell said Chapman’s “adverse childhood experiences” impaired his brain development.
Carmody reminded the jurors that Barbara E. Ziv, a forensic psychiatrist, questioned Weiss’s findings, calling them controversial. Ziv characterized Chapman as a charming, manipulative sociopath.
The planning before, during and after the murder reinforced the extreme indifference to human life that Chapman showed when he pointed guns at other victims when he was 18 and 20 years old, Carmody said. Chapman’s systematic approach to Turner’s murder included buying chainsaws – even though he had no trees on his property – diapers to soak up blood, and bleach to clean the crime scene, Carmody said, adding that Chapman used the same saw to cut up a dog “so he has a built-in excuse” if he were ever questioned by police.
According to testimony, the case began Oct. 30, 2008, when Turner, who had been working to get back on track after detouring into the drug trade, failed to show up at the community center to perform some court-ordered community service. Suspicion turned to Chapman after police executed a search warrant Nov. 15, 2008, and found weapons, drugs, drug-selling paraphernalia, blood-stained clothing, and trash bags with mutilated pitbull remains.
Investigators, later aided by DNA evidence, concluded that Chapman shot and killed Turner over a drug dispute. Despite searches of the landfill where the bags would have been taken by trash haulers, the body was never found.
One of two men inside Chapman’s residence when the homicide occurred, Bryan Byrd, 23, of Newark, N.J., was a key prosecution witness. Byrd, who pleaded guilty in November 2011 to third-degree murder, conspiracy, abuse of a corpse, and related offenses, is awaiting sentencing.
Although the jury did not accept the argument presented by Kelly that Byrd committed the murder and deflected blame by cooperating with authorities, Chapman’s mother, Cynthia Chapman Graves, believes police got it wrong. Speaking before the penalty-phase deliberations, she acknowledged that sitting through testimony about her son’s difficult childhood and her own drug use was painful, but she said her son gave her strength. “He kept telling me to have faith,” she said.
Carmody credited many people in law enforcement with what he viewed as a positive result, including Assistant District Attorney Michelle Frei, the Chester County Detectives, and the Coatesville Police Department. Carmody also thanked the jurors “for their remarkable citizenship.”
“This type of proceeding is not very common,” said Judge William P. Mahon, who thanked the jurors for their service. “This is as difficult and important a decision as any.”
District Attorney Tom Hogan said the last defendant to be sentenced to death in Chester County was Derrick Hall for a 1993 murder in Coatesville.
“I’m very pleased with the outcome,” said Coatesville Det. Ryan Wright, the affiant in the case. “I think justice prevailed.”
I wanted to take a second to recognize Sergeant Chris McEvoy for his work with the Aaron Turner case. I sat in the court room every day and watched witness after witness come and go throughout this case. But the day that Sergeant McEvoy testified and the Jury watched his 2 hour interview with Chapman was the day the trial turned for the better. This interview, in my opinion was the reason for the conviction and it was obvious from watching the Jury that they turned after the testimony and video of McEvoy. I have read alot of articles about this case but have yet to hear anyone mention his nwme so I will. I would like to thank Sergeant McEvoy for what he did to help convict Chapman of Murder and get him the pentalty he so rightfully deserved.