Man charged in Pa. murders wants to fire lawyers
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NORRISTOWN (AP) – A suburban Philadelphia man accused of killing a baby and her grandmother in a botched ransom kidnapping wants to fire his court-appointed attorneys and represent himself at trial.
Montgomery County Judge Steven O’Neill declined to rule Tuesday on the request by 27-year-old Raghunandan Yandamuri.
The judge said he wanted to wait until defense lawyers could review the request and decide how they want to proceed.
The defendant could face the death penalty if convicted of first-degree murder in the October 2012 killings of 10-month-old Saanvi Venna and 61-year-old Satayrathi Venna.
Prosecutors allege that Yandamuri kidnapped the baby girl from her family’s King of Prussia apartment and killed her grandmother who tried to protect the child. The girl’s body was found several days later.