Allegheny County District Attorney seeking death penalty against Cesar Mazza

The Allegheny County District Attorney's Office is seeking the death penalty against Cesar Mazza who is accused of killing his former girlfriend and her grandmother this May in the East Hills.

Mazza, 25, was arrested August 4 and charged with killing Tionna Banks, 25, and Valorie Crumpton, 72; then kidnapping Banks' newborn child. According to the criminal complaint, Banks had gotten a protection from abuse order against Mazza, the child's father, because he repeatedly had beaten her and threatened to kill her .

Police investigated when Banks didn't return to a North Side residential program after leaving to visit Crumpton. Police found the women's bodies in Crumpton's East Hills home. An autopsy determined both died of blunt force trauma. Witnesses told police Mazza left East Hills with the infant, both covered in blood.

The District Attorney's Office announced their intention to seek the death penalty against Mazza after his formal arraignment Thursday. A trial date before Judge Donna Jo McDaniel has not yet been set.