Teens cleared in killing

wo Shenandoah teenagers were acquitted late Friday night of killing illegal Mexican immigrant Luis Ramirez Zavala.

Brandon J. Piekarsky, 17, of Shenandoah Heights, and Derrick M. Donchak, 19, of Shenandoah, were convicted of simple assault.

The Schuylkill County jury also convicted Donchak on three counts of corruption of minors and three counts of furnishing alcohol to minors.

The defendants hugged each other after the verdicts were read, and friends and family members clapped.

Jurors deliberated for nearly eight hours before reaching their verdict around 10:45 p.m., Friday.

The all-white jury of six men and six women began deliberating about 3 p.m.

The beating occurred about 11:30 p.m. July 12 on West Lloyd Street in Shenandoah, Prosecutors said. Ramirez died two days later at Geisinger Medical Center in Danville.

Jurors returned to the courtroom around 4:10 p.m. asking Schuylkill County President Judge William E. Baldwin to define three of the charges: ethnic intimidation, corruption of minors and recklessly endangering another person. Baldwin took about 10 minutes to do so and returned the jury to the deliberation room.

Baldwin, who had presided over the five-day trial, began instructing the jury at 1:10 p.m. following a lunch recess.

“He was beaten badly. His skull was fractured in two spots,” Assistant District Attorney Robert P. Frantz said in his closing argument Friday.

Lawyers for Piekarsky and Donchak argued the boys did nothing wrong and prosecutors rushed to judgment without fully considering the evidence.

“Is it fair to these kids who are on trial for their lives?” Frederick J. Fanelli, Piekarsky’s lawyer, asked.

Jeffrey M. Markosky, Donchak’s lawyer, said prosecutors had not proved any hatred was involved.

“This was a fight that developed spontaneously,” Markosky said. “There is an absolute lack of evidence that Mr. Donchak’s actions were caused by racial hatred.”

Piekarsky was charged with criminal homicide, ethnic intimidation and other related charges. Donchak was charged with aggravated assault, ethnic intimidation and other related charges.

Markosky said the case came down to witness credibility and that neither Brian Scully nor Colin J. Walsh, two other teenagers charged in connection with the fight, were credible.

Walsh, 17, of Shenandoah Heights, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court to federal civil rights charges in connection with the incident. According to Walsh’s testimony, under his sealed plea agreement, he will serve four or nine years, depending upon his cooperation.

Ramirez also was not entirely innocent, continuing to fight voluntarily when the boys started to walk away, according to Fanelli.

“Ramirez was planning for battle,” he said.

All that adds up to reasonable doubt and mandated acquittal of Piekarsky, Fanelli said.

Frantz argued the prosecution did not rush to judgment, but he did not deny some of his witnesses gave inconsistent statements. He attributed that to the desire to protect their friends and teammates in football and other sports at Shenandoah Valley High School.

“Team bonding runs deep,” Frantz said.

In an unusual move, Frantz said the two police officers who testified they heard Garcia say Scully kicked Ramirez, were not telling the truth.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.