Second person charged in connection with New Castle triple homicide

NEW CASTLE, Pa. — Investigators are searching for another suspect in connection with a triple murder in New Castle, according to the Lawrence County district attorney.

Police have already arrested 19-year-old Stephen Procopio, of New Wilmington, and charged him with three counts of criminal homicide.

A mother, her daughter and a man were all found dead inside a home on West North Street around 4:30 a.m. Tuesday.

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Channel 11 has learned the 10-year-old girl was shot coming down the steps. Lawrence County District Attorney Josh Lamancusa said Procopio has been providing crucial information.

>>PREVIOUS: Causes of death released in New Castle triple homicide

When officers arrived at the home, they found Nichole Pumphrey, 31; her daughter, Amariah Emery, 10; and Lawrence Cannon, 30, dead on the first floor. Pumphrey and her daughter lived at the home and Cannon lived elsewhere, police said.

"To hurt a family like that, I mean, there's no bragging in that. Nobody wins that," Cannon's father, Lawrence Williams, said. "She's a mother of 4 or 5 kids. She couldn't have done nothing to nobody to get that."

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There were four other children inside the home at the time of the alleged murder. Police said at least one of them heard gunshots and saw the suspect, which is how police identified Procopio.

Jodie Hammer, who Procopio had been living with for the past year, is also being held in police custody on charges related to growing marijuana and obstruction of justice.

Police said they initially interviewed Procopio, Hammer and a third person but due to lack of evidence they released all three.

After that, Hammer allegedly drove the third person to Cleveland where he boarded a bus to Detroit.

It's unclear at this point what role the third person played or what the motive for the murders was.

Cox Media Group