Where is Sarah? I kept calling her cell phone again and again after school. She was the kind of daughter that made any parent proud and teachers were thrilled when they had this 4.6 QPA student in their Honors classes. Her quiet, polite, inquisitive manner was always a welcome addition to the classroom. “I wish I had a room full of Sarahs,” quipped one of her school teachers.
Again and again I called her cell phone…this was so unlike her….no answer….She always, always, always answers–it’s after school and time for Sarah to come home…
Then the home telephone rings. There are lines of demarcation we all have that mark our lives. The before and after moments that tear a scar across all you hold close to you heart.
This telephone call began a horrid new line of demarcation in our quiet South Hills family life.
It is the nightmare call that all parents dread…Sarah has been hurt…tried to murder her…by the T-tracks….and she…The call cuts out. My husband and I with our two younger daughters race in our car down Mt. Lebanon Blvd. to where the Mr. Magic Car Wash meets the T-tracks at the crossing. People seem to be everywhere milling about, police cars, other cars stopped all along the road, ambulances, uniformed policeman, complete with two helicopters circling overhead.
Our two young daughters in the back of the car are screaming in terror. A figure lies on the T-platform. My husband leaps from the car and races to a uniformed official. In the confusion, a friend we happen upon at the scene tells us it is not Sarah, rather we soon discover it is the alleged predator that has wrought yet another instance of mayhem. (We later learn his name is familiar to Mt. Lebanon Police.) An officer directs us to another location further down the tracks. There finally, we find our tall, thin blonde haired daughter. Her appearance grossly altered since I had dropped her off that morning at the Mt. Lebanon High School. Her lovely thick blonde hair matted with blood and mud, her large always inquisitive brown eyes are damaged, grotesquely discolored and swollen… hospital doctors will diagnose a fractured orbital floor as one of her many injuries. Her long delicate fingers are bloodied and terribly bruised as a result of defensive wounds fending off repeated blows from the hammer. Armed with only her backpack loaded with heavy AP course books, young Sarah had only the use of her hands to fend off the repeated, unyeilding blows.
It was Sarah who identified the figure that lay at the other end of the tracks, although it was too far removed from that location to be visible from our location. She identified him before anyone else knew who it was because this individual had in the past threatened to do what this sad excuse for a person finally did. What a cowardly act. To allegedly lure a young, unarmed girl from the safety of school grounds to a secluded wooded area then attack her from behind with a claw hammer to the back of the head. Then continue to beat her with steel toed boots and fists.
By the grace of God, In mid attack, an Allegheny County homicide detective came upon scene while walking his dog. His presence interrupted the alleged attempted murder in progress, distracting the cowardly alleged attempted murderer who was in the middle of killing a young unarmed girl. This moment of distraction, allowed Sarah to run crying for help.
A neighbor in a house near the path had heard her screams for some time and not knowing what to do, she did not summon help until Hero Detective Carpico and survivor Sarah DeIuliis presented themselves at her door, out of desperation.
The alleged cowardly male predator who attacked this young girl from behind with the lethal weapon, then in order to avoid facing the consequences for his actions charged an oncoming T-Trolley car, with his head down. The cattle catcher on the front of all trolleys safely pushed this individual to the side of the tracks…there were no life threatening injuries, a broken arm, a broken wrist.
The DA charged the defendant as an ADULT, after all shouldn’t there be ADULT Consequences for ADULT actions? If you agree….please COMMENT on this site. When this issue of charging a defendant as an ADULT is reviewed by the court, it is called a DECERTIFICATION hearing. Disappointedly, DA Zapalla’s office lost this hearing. If the young man charged with this crime is tried as an adult, then he will face adult consequences at sentencing. If he is tried as a juvenile, his record is sealed as if this crime was never committed and the court only holds jurisdiction over him until age 21. Not much time for the judicial system to attempt to rehabilitation this accused attempted homicidal predator.
Also, sadly, when the issue of bail for the defendant arose, neither was the DA’s office successful at either one of the bail hearings.
FURTHER RECOVERED EVIDENCE:
Additionally, at the scene of the crime, a backpack allegedly tied to the accused perpetrator of this crime was found and contained (in addition to the separately recovered hammer/alleged murder weapon)– duct tape, box cutter and a large knife among other items. This appeared to be a murderer/abductor’s prep kit.
TO RE_CAP:
A credible eye witness, recovered attempted murder weapon and a homicide detective who comes upon the scene and interrupts the crime in progress…and still the DA’s office has not prevailed. What other case has ever had such a favorable fact pattern for District Attorney Zapalla?
This case suffered eight different postponements; why did the DA allow this? Then when the hearing finally did go forward, the star witness cited above, the Allegheny County detective who came upon the scene, was unavailable. If the case could be postponed eight times for virtually no reason…why didn’t the DA’s office request a postponement until the very credible and important witness could be there?
During the decertification hearing (hearing to determine whether to try the defendant as an adult), the defense’s expert witness said twice, “If the defendant wanted to kill her, why didn’t he just do it?” The Judge only knows what facts are presented to him in the courtroom….yet the DA’s office did not put the Detective on the stand to tell how his presence had interrupted the attack, preventing the defendant from completing his intended actions.
IT’S LIKE A VIDEO GAME:
Defendant’s alleged suicide attempt failed. Very consistent with most endeavors in which he has purportedly engaged. And just like a video game, he gets to hit the reset button and try again.
When the hammer blow struck Sarah’s skull, there was no one there to hear, no one to hear her cry for help. Will you rise up and hear her plaintive cry now?
Right now, please post a comment on this site, then phone the District Attorney’s office at 412.350.4400 or 412.350.3111 or 412.350.4407, or email him at feedback@da.allegheny.pa.us. Remind them you vote and for continued support, the Citizens of Allegheny County want to see the DA do his job: Protect and Defend.
Protect this daughter from Mt. Lebanon, protect our community from return of this alleged violent predator.
Defend our daughter, Sarah, from any further violent, predatory attacks from this defendant by using all the powers of your office to put defendant Robertino DeAngelis of Mt. Lebanon in jail with no bail.
by Sarah’s Mother May 17, 2009 at 5:05 a
A 16-year-old young man allegedly lures a young woman to a secluded area, beats her over the head with a hammer and then throws himself in front of an on-coming streetcar, known in Pittsburgh as the T. Nearly 18 months have transpired, the young man remains under house arrest, not in jail, and a judge has ruled that he will be tried as a juvenile, despite the original adult charges of attempted murder and aggravated assault. The Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen Zappalla refuses to appeal the decision, despite the fact that the judge chastised the prosecution for not providing victim’s impact statements or information about what the potential impact on the community could be if he is prematurely released.
