Thursday, March 3, 2011
By MARLENE DiGIACOMO
mdigiacomo@delcotimes.com
MEDIA COURTHOUSE – An accused killer charged in the brutal stabbing and asphyxiation death last December of a 45-year-old Chester woman was put on notice Thursday that he will be facing the possibility of a death sentence when he stands trial.
Tyrone Blake, 49, of the 300 block W. 22nd St., Chester, was arraigned Thursday on first degree murder and related charges in the killing of Darlene Montgomery.
The victim’s body was found by relatives hidden under a mattress and furniture in the bedroom of the city home she shared with Blake, according to authorities.
“This is a terrible murder,” said Assistant District Attorney Thomas Lawrie. “She suffered 54 stab wounds and a number of them were to her head.”
However, Lawrie said the cause of death was asphyxiation. “She was alive when he put those items on top of her,” said the prosecutor.
During Thursday’s arraignment before Judge Kevin Kelly, Lawrie notified Blake that the killing is being certified as a capital crime. The defendant remained handcuffed as he stood beside defense attorney Robert D’Agostino and a routine not guilty plea was entered by the court.
Under Pennsylvania law, certain aggravating circumstances must be present to seek capital punishment. Lawrie’s petition states that Blake “has a significant history of felony convictions involving the use or threat of violence to the person …”
The defendant’s criminal history goes back to 1979 and includes robbery and aggravated assault, Lawrie said.
Police said that when Montgomery’s children came home that day they found the door was barricaded with a couch and that Blake appeared to be breathing heavy and had been drinking when he eventually opened the door.
When the defendant was asked where Montgomery was, the witness quoted him as stating she went to “play her lottery,” according to the police report.
The family member told police that Blake went upstairs to the front bedroom and shut the door and when he came downstairs he said he was going out for a smoke but did not return, according to the court document.
“The children advised police they heard furniture being moved around in the upstairs front bedroom,” according to the report.
At one point a relative went to the bedroom and the witness “stepped on something that felt like a person,” police said.
Also a sheet with bloodstains reportedly was found and the body of Montgomery was discovered underneath the mattress and other items, investigators reported.
Following the alleged killing, police said they pulled Blake from Chester Creek and they quoted him as stating he “was being followed by people who were trying to get him.”
The defendant will be back in court March 28 for a pre-trial hearing.
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