Starleisha Smith News Today : Breaking News, Live Updates & Top Stories | Vimarsana

The months-long procession of homicide trials continues in Erie County Court with another case in which the defendant is arguing self-defense. Jury selection started on Monday in the trial of Erie resident Derrick A. Feidler, 36. He is accused of going into his home at 1400 block of West 35th Street to retrieve a rifle before fatally shooting another man in the chest after the two got into an argument outside the residence at about 6:15 p.m. on Nov. 8, 2019. The Erie County District Attorney's Office is contending that Feidler committed first-degree murder, or a premeditated killing,...

Defense contended defendant acted in a rage and is guilty of third-degree murder or manslaughter Jury deliberations started on Wednesday afternoon with verdict Thursday afternoon A jury had to decide two basic questions as it deliberated over the fatal stabbing of a 20-year-old Erie woman in May 2019. Did the defendant, Kevin G. Hicks-Franklin, 23, intend to kill the victim, Starleisha Smith, the best friend of his girlfriend, making Hicks-Franklin guilty of first-degree murder? Or did Hicks-Franklin kill Smith in a rage because his girlfriend was breaking up with him, and he never forme...