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At his murder trial, a teen who was 16 when charged will face as a prosecution witness a Lacoochee man who already pleaded guilty.
By CHASE SQUIRES, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times, published February 15, 2003
DADE CITY -- With a court date looming for Jesse Ray Allen Jr., accused of beating and stomping a 76-year-old Trilby man to death in 1999, one of the men already found guilty in the attack has named Allen as a cohort.
Allen, now 19, is supposed to go to trial Monday to face first-degree murder and carjacking charges, but attorneys on both sides said Friday the trial likely won't happen next week.
But when, or if, the case goes to trial, Allen faces a potentially formidable witness: Damani Emmanuel, a 21-year-old Lacoochee man who pleaded guilty last year in the Aug. 9, 1999, murder of Daniel Max Boyko.
Emmanuel pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, agreeing that he would testify against Allen. He faces no more than 22 years in prison, and he told Allen's attorney he understood it could be less, provided he helps convict Allen.
During a deposition Feb. 5 that lasted an hour and 15 minutes, Emmanuel methodically told prosecutor Stacey Sumner and Allen's appointed attorney, Sam Williams, how he, Lionell Kendall Mitchell, 19, and Allen encountered and abducted Boyko.
Mitchell was found guilty at trial of manslaughter and assault and sentenced to 15 years in prison. He has refused to implicate Allen.
But Emmanuel said the three were walking back from a friend's house that August night when they decided, on a whim, to rob someone.
"Why did you want to go rob somebody, Damani?" Williams asked.
"Something to do," Emmanuel replied.
They had no one in mind until they saw Boyko pull up to his house in his car, Emmanuel said. They grabbed him, stuffed him in the back seat, and made a short drive to nearby woods.
Allen, Emmanuel said, was along for the ride, sitting in the back seat with Boyko.
"He wasn't for it; he wasn't against it," Emmanuel testified.
Boyko pleaded for his medication, but Emmanuel said the three ignored him.
When they pulled Boyko from the car, Allen took a turn kicking him, Emmanuel said.
Mitchell rifled through the dying man's pockets and came up with about $100, Emmanuel said. He didn't know whether Allen got any of the money, but Emmanuel said his cut was $25 to $30.
Allen and Mitchell were 16 at the time. Emmanuel was 18.
Allen remained in the Pasco County jail in Land O'Lakes on Friday, held without bail. He is due in court Monday.