PA - Robert Barnes, 51, homeless, dies 7 mos after brutal beating, Olney, 7 Apr 2015

JoeFromLB said:

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/2...la__gas_station_dies.html#z0fH3oGA0sosZLCv.99

I'll be following this one closely. What kind of human beings could do such a cruel thing?!

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In September, all three women rejected a deal from the District Attorney's Office for a guilty plea in exchange for prison terms of seven to 14 years. They have been unable to post bail and still are in custody.

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The boy's mother, 34-year-old Aleathea Gillard and Shareena Joachim, along with Kaisha Duggins, both 24-years-of-age have been charged with murder...

Three juveniles who participated in the attack are also expected to be charged as adults with murder.

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The trial for three women charged with murder in connection with the beating death of a homeless man outside an Olney gas station has again been delayed.

Though the trio was slated to face trial starting on March 20, legal maneuvering has pushed the start back until July 31.

Diane Barnes – whose brother Bobby died seven comatose months after the assault garnered national attention after being captured on video – told PhillyVoice this week that the delay stems from two of the defendants hiring experts to claim they weren’t of sound mind on the day of the ultimately fatal attack.

“One of them was pregnant at the time and they’re hiring an expert to testify about her mental state. It can’t be postpartum, because that’s after giving birth, but I was told it was something along those lines,” Barnes said. “One of the others – the one who (allegedly) maced my brother – is hiring a mitigation expert to help her, too.”

Considering all three will be tried simultaneously, the moves on behalf of Gillard and Joachim required a trial delay, she said.

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Three youths – a 12-year-old girl, and 13- and 14-year-old boys – were sentenced on assault charges several months later. Their charges were upgraded when Barnes died. At least one of the juveniles (the 14-year-old boy) has already pleaded guilty.

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Arresting the suspects was never much of an issue. The video led investigators to them within weeks, and charges were upgraded from assault to homicide when Barnes succumbed to his injuries.

From there, it’s been a seemingly never-ending waiting game for Barnes’ sister Diane, the whole family and a community of supporters that includes Project HOME’s Sister Mary Scullion, who paid respects at his funeral in Manayunk’s St. John the Baptist Roman Catholic Church.

Having covered the case from the outset, I’ve seen that support network extend to total strangers who, over the past two-plus years, emailed to keep tabs on when suspects Aleathea Gillard, Shareena Joachim and Kaisha Duggins would face trial.

That question now has an official answer: Diane Barnes recently met with officials in the District Attorney’s Office who told her to expect jury selection – or guilty pleas to be entered– on Monday, January 29.

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In a beating that was captured on surveillance video and gained international attention, Gillard punched and kicked Barnes and pummeled him in the head with a piece of wood from a broken rocking chair that was in her van. Her friend, Kaisha Duggins, hit him with a hammer in the head, legs, and feet. Another friend, Shareena Joachim, tried to spray Barnes with Mace, but instead accidentally sprayed Gillard’s 13-year-old son.

The beating was so severe that Barnes fell into a coma. He died seven months later.

On Monday, the three women — Gillard, 37; Duggins, 27; and Joachim, 26 — pleaded guilty to charges of voluntary manslaughter, conspiracy, and possession of an instrument of crime in Barnes’ death.

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JusticeWillBeServed said:

3 women plead guilty in 2015 beating death of homeless man outside Olney gas station

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/crime/robert-barnes-homeless-man-beating-death-gas-station-3-women-plead-guilty-olney-philly-20180129.html?photo_2



Sentencing is currently scheduled for April 20th.

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Yet again, Robert Barnes’ family will have to wait to see justice served.

Though three women already pleaded guilty to a brutal group attack that ultimately killed the 51-year-old homeless man, his family learned this week that sentencing will not go off this Friday as previously scheduled.

Diane Barnes, the victim's sister, didn’t learn of the continuation until Wednesday. Word came after her sister Debbie had already traveled from Connecticut for the proceedings, countless supporters had rearranged their schedules to attend and Diane Barnes had prepared a victim-impact statement.

“I’m sick to my stomach,” Barnes said. “I was preparing for this for months, and it brought all the pain back as I was trying to get on with life. Now, we have to put it aside and then bring it all back up again in a few months. It’s horrible.”

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