3rd person charged with homicide for New Castle triple slaying that included 10-year-old girl

Police in New Castle have charged a third person with homicide for the slaying of two adults and a child in October.

Jody Hammer, 41, initially was charged with obstruction of justice in connection with the fatal shooting of Nichole Pumphrey, 31; her daughter, Amariah Emery, 10; and Lawrence Cannon, 31.

Hammer, of New Wilmington, now faces three counts of criminal homicide as well as conspiracy to commit robbery and hindering apprehension or prosecution, according to New Castle police. Hammer was out of jail on a $50,000 bond for the original charge when she was arrested Friday for the homicides.

She was placed in the Lawrence County Jail following an arraignment in which no bond was set.

Investigators were called to Pumphrey’s West North Street home at about 8:30 a.m. on Oct. 16 after four other children in the house discovered the victims’ bodies, according to investigators.

Two days later, city police charged Steven Procopio, 19, of New Wilmington in Lawrence County with homicide.

A second suspect, Anthony Lavon Cooper Jr., 19, of Harrison Township was arrested on Oct. 29 by federal marshals in Detroit and was extradited back to Lawrence County. He was charged with homicide, criminal conspiracy and carrying an unlicensed firearm.

The victims were shot during a robbery planned by Procopio and Hammer, New Castle police wrote in a news release.

Police say Procopio, Hammer and Cooper went to Pumprhey’s home to rob the victims and that Cooper shot Pumphrey and Cannon during an argument.

Cooper then handed the gun to Procopio after hearing people upstairs in the residence, police said. Cooper allegedly shot Emery when she came down the stairs and attempted to shoot another child as she ran back up the stairs. T

he four other children in the home, who are between the ages of 4 and 9, were not harmed, police said.

Tony LaRussa is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Tony at 724-772-6368 or tlarussa@tribweb.com or via Twitter @TonyLaRussaTrib.