Jurors hear confession describing Daugherty's slaying
Melvin Knight told police he tortured and killed a Mt. Pleasant woman to protect his pregnant fiancée from a violent man who was calling the shots as six people abused the mentally challenged victim.
Westmoreland County jurors on Friday heard a nearly 60-minute confession Knight gave to police just hours after he was arrested in the Feb. 11, 2010, torture slaying of Jennifer Daugherty, 30, in a Greensburg apartment. Her battered body, tied up with Christmas lights, was discovered in a trash can dumped in the parking lot of Greensburg Salem Middle School.
The audiotaped confession of Knight dominated the fifth day of testimony in his penalty trial. The prosecution is seeking the death penalty against Knight, 22, formerly of Swissvale. He pleaded guilty to first and second-degree murder, kidnapping and conspiracy charges in April.
Knight claimed he acted at the behest of one of his six Greensburg roommates, 26-year-old Ricky Smyrnes, to protect Amber Meidinger, 22, Knight's pregnant girlfriend.
“Well, if we wouldn't do what Ricky asked us to do, we would have been in the same predicament as Jennifer; tied up, gagged, stuff like that,” Knight told police. “I had a woman who already had one miscarriage; don't need another one. Me, this is my first child, I don't need to lose this child. So I was just doing it. I had the protection of me and my fiancée.” Knight told police.
Speaking in slow, stilted sentences, Knight's voice on the tape held little emotion as he described how the group held Daugherty captive for more than two days. He said they beat and tortured her and forced her to drink human waste, including Knight's urine.
Then Knight described how he repeatedly stabbed Daugherty in the chest.
On the tape, county Detective Richard Kranitz asked Knight about how the stabbing occurred after the group decided that Daugherty must die.
“Then Ricky went and got a, um, knife and told me to stab her,” Knight replied.
“And then what did you do?” Kranitz asked.
“I hesitated for a little bit and then I stabbed her,” Knight said.
“OK, where did you stab her first, Melvin?” Kranitz asked.
“In the chest,” Knight responded.
“And about how many times did you stab her in the chest?” Kranitz asked.
“Mmm, three,” Knight said.
“OK. And then what happened after you stabbed her in the chest?” Kranitz asked.
“Ricky said, ‘Damn! This bitch is still living, living,' ” Knight said.
“And then what did you do?” Kranitz asked.
“I stabbed her again,” Knight answered.
An autopsy showed that Daugherty was stabbed seven times. Three of those wounds punctured her heart, Cyril Wecht, a Pittsburgh forensic pathologist, previously testified.
Knight said he killed Daugherty at the urging of Smyrnes, whom he had met a month earlier while they were cell mates at the county jail.
“I know Ricky. . . since I was locked up with Ricky in the Westmoreland County jail and Ricky could be a very intimidating, scary dude when his temper gets the best of him, and I didn't wanna be on the wrong side of him. So I just did what he had asked of me,” Knight told police on the tape.
Following that statement, which concluded at 12:12 a.m. on Feb. 12, Knight and his five roommates were arraigned before Greensburg District Judge James Albert.
While sitting in the courtroom, the group joked and talked about the chance of being released on bail, testified Greensburg Lt. Chad Zucco.
“They were loud and boisterous,” Zucco told jurors.
Westmoreland County District Attorney John Peck said the prosecution will finish its case against Knight on Monday. Three of Daugherty's family members are expected to testify.
Rich Cholodofsky is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. He can be reached at 724-830-6293 or rcholodofsky@tribweb.com.
