Knight's former fiancee testifies in death penalty case
Melvin Knight threw himself on top of a naked Jennifer Daugherty and pinned her with his knee as he raped her for 10 minutes, the mother of his child testified Wednesday.
Knight's former fiancee, Amber Meidinger, 22, spent more than four hours on the witnesses stand to describe in graphic detail the beatings, the torture, the rape and the fatal stabbing of Daugherty, a 30-year-old mentally disabled woman from Mt. Pleasant.
“Jennifer was struggling. I could see that Melvin had a sock in her mouth so she wouldn't do or say anything. It wasn't consensual,” Meidinger testified.
The prosecution wants jurors to condemn Knight to death for the February 2010 torture slaying of Daugherty, who was abused by Knight, Meidinger and four other people squatting in a Greensburg apartment. Knight pleaded guilty to murder in April.
Westmoreland County District Attorney John Peck will seek the death penalty against Ricky Smyrnes, 26, who is expected to go to trial in October.
Angela Marinucci, 20, was convicted last year of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison.
Peggy Miller, 29, and Robert Miller, 38, have been charged and are awaiting trial.
Meidinger, who gave birth to Knight's daughter seven months after their arrest for Daugherty's murder, never looked at him as she described Daugherty's final hours for jurors hearing the trial before Judge Rita Hathaway.
To conclude, Assistant District Attorney Chuck Washburn asked the witness to identify Knight.
Meidinger, who spoke slowly and deliberately throughout her testimony, looked up, paused, dabbed tears from her eyes and pointed out Knight to the jury.
Meidinger, during the third day in Knight's trial, spoke in detail about the murder she claimed she witnessed in the bathroom of the North Pennsylvania Avenue apartment.
She said Knight carried Daugherty into the bathroom, shut off the light, closed the door and repeatedly stabbed her in the chest and slashed her throat.
“Melvin asks, ‘Are you ready to die?' He puts something in her mouth and stabs her in the chest multiple times,” Meidinger testified.
Meidinger, who is facing the death penalty, told jurors she made no plea deal for her testimony.
“What little I can do is tell the family what happened because I can't do anything else,” Meidinger said. “Coming from me, being a mom, I would want to know what happened to my kid.”
She testified she and Knight met up with Daugherty and the others on Feb. 8, three days before the victim's body was discovered in a trash can left under a parked truck.
Meidinger said the group's first night together was disrupted when Smyrnes flew into a rage, claiming Daugherty attempted to have sex with him.
The next day, the abuse began.
The group stole items from Daugherty's purse, hit her on the head with plastic bottles, beat her with a towel rack, poured water, spices and oatmeal on her head and cut her hair, Meidinger said.
“The plan was we were trying to embarrass her, humiliate her, make her feel belittled,” she said.
It escalated to violence when Knight threw Daugherty on the living room floor and raped her, Meidinger said.
“Did anyone instruct or tell Melvin to rape Jennifer?” Washburn asked.
“No,” Meidinger answered.
The abuse continued.
Daugherty kicked Marinucci in the stomach in self-defense, which set off another firestorm that led to the group drugging her, the witness said.
The next day Smyrnes held a “family meeting” and decided to force concoctions of urine, feces and cleaning solutions down Daugherty's throat as they beat her over the head with a towel rack.
“She kept asking, ‘Why are you doing this to me?” Meidinger testified.
Another meeting was held and everyone voted to kill Daugherty, Meidinger told the jury.
Smyrnes forced Daugherty to write a fake suicide note and then he and Knight tied her up with Christmas lights and garland.
“Angela wanted them to blink to make her look like a Christmas tree. They didn't blink so she got mad,” Meidinger said.
Knight got a knife. Meidinger said she stood next to him in the bathroom as he stabbed and slashed Daugherty.
But Knight then left the bathroom and said, “The bitch ain't dead yet.”
Smyrnes took the knife and slashed Daugherty's wrist before he and Knight strangled her with more Christmas lights, Meidinger testified.
After another family meeting, Knight and Smyrnes dumped Daugherty's body head-first into a stolen plastic garbage can and dragged it to the Greensburg Salem Middle School parking lot.
Meidinger will return to court this morning to be questioned by Knight's defense team.
Rich Cholodofsky is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. He can be reached at 724-830-6293 or rcholodofsky@tribweb.com.
