Prosecutors have announced that they will seek the death penalty against a man charged in the stabbing death of his girlfriend in western Pennsylvania earlier this year.
The Johnstown Tribune-Democrat reports that Cambria County prosecutors filed notice of aggravating circumstances against 36-year-old David Leon Johnson.
They allege that he stabbed 30-year-old Allison Vaughn in the neck three times and strangled her March 30 in Richland Township after she refused to allow him to withdraw money from her bank account to buy drugs.
District Attorney Kelly Callihan cited felony robbery and involuntary deviate sexual intercourse charges as justifying capital punishment if Johnson is convicted of first-degree murder.
Callihan last month sought additional time for the decision over the protests of defense attorneys, citing a need to retest DNA.
