Donora man charged with attempted homicide
CHARLEROI – A Donora man is in custody on charges he attempted to kill a woman in Charleroi early Wednesday by striking her in the head with a chest freezer and dehumidifier.
District Judge Larry Hopkins arraigned Terry Lee Newton Jr., 27, of 1592 Meldon Ave. ,Wednesday afternoon on charges including attempted homicide, court records indicate.
Charleroi Regional police lodged Newton overnight in Washington County jail on a probation violation following the 2:50 a.m. assault of Raven Randall on her birthday at 1022 Fallowfield Ave., court records show.
Police said Randall, 24, was unresponsive, had a faint pulse and lost a lot of blood by the time officers and paramedics arrived at her residence.
The victim’s sister, Krystal Randall, was running from the house screaming, “He is inside and he is killing her,” as the first officers showed up at the house.
Newton is accused of running out the back door and leading a patrolman on a foot chase to the 1000 block of Railroad Way, where he was apprehended, court records show.
Randall had a large laceration on her head, and the right side of her face was swollen. She was taken by ambulance from the house to nearby Rostraver Township, then flown by helicopter to Allegheny General Hospital in Pittsburgh. Charleroi Regional police Chief Eric Porter said Raven Randall suffered a punctured liver in the attack, but was expected to survive her injuries.
Krystal Randall told police Newton picked up the freezer and struck Raven Randall with it after she refused to give him a cigarette, the record alleged. Newton had been Raven Randall’s boyfriend, said Porter, who added he didn’t know the current status of their relationship.
Hopkins set bond in the case at $1 million, according to online court documents.
Newton also faces charges of aggravated assault, simple assault, reckless endangerment and flight to avoid apprehension.
He has a lengthy criminal history in Washington County, and was serving 12 months of probation in a drug case at the time of his arrest in the Randall assault. He also served 6 months in jail in that case after pleading guilty in April before Judge Michael J. Lucas to possessing one large bag of cocaine and one small bag of the drug at his residence when he lived on Lookout Avenue in Charleroi, online court records show.
Newton also was arrested in June 2014 on accusations he used a box cutter to slash patrons of a Charleroi bar. The case was abandoned when the witness refused to cooperate with the prosecution, court records show.