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Suspect pleads guilty in delivery driver's slaying
Suspect pleads guilty in slaying of Chinese food delivery driver.
Date published: 6/29/2009 BY KEITH EPPS Jermaine L. Montgomery will spend the rest of his life in prison for killing Chinese food delivery driver Yong Zhang last summer after luring him to a vacant building. Montgomery, 34, was sentenced today to three life sentences after pleading guilty to capital murder, robbery and abduction. The plea agreement spares Montgomery the possibility of the death penalty and spares the state the estimated $1 million cost to proceed with the three-week trial that had been scheduled to start Aug. 31. The evidence shows that Zhang was abducted in Fredericksburg and stabbed to death in Spotsylvania. His body was later recovered in the woods in Sussex County. Marcey White, Montgomery's accomplice, has already pleaded guilty to six charges in Fredericksburg, including abduction and carjacking. She has not been sentenced. Tony Greene, the man accused of helping Montgomery dispose of the body in Sussex, is charged there with being an accessory after the fact. Both White and Greene were expected to testify against Montgomery had the case gone to trial.
Commonwealth's Attorney William Neely abandoned his push for the death penalty following a recent hearing in which it was proven that vultures were responsible for Zhang's severed ear and gouged-out eye. Authorities previously believed that Montgomery caused that damage. The "depravity" demonstrated by such actions would have been key in Neely's effort to get the death penalty. After Judge David Beck ruled that the prosecution could not use the mutilation as a basis for seeking the death penalty, Neely determined there was little chance of winning a death verdict.
"The triple life sentence imposed today is the toughest sentence imposed in Spotsylvania in over 27 years," Neely said. "It means that Montgomery will die in prison." The plea agreement outlines the overwhelming evidence against Montgomery. Zhang was working for his family's business, China Express in Fredericksburg, when the business received a telephone order for two dinners about 9 p.m. July 3. When Zhang hadn't returned more than an hour later, city police were called. Blood was found at the vacant apartment building, but Zhang was not. White told authorities that she and Montgomery, her on-again, off-again boyfriend, had taken a bus to Fredericksburg about a week earlier to seek work. They stayed briefly with White's sister, but the sister did not like Montgomery and told the couple to leave.
Date published: 6/29/2009
WTF?
(posted by
wildbill56
, June 29, 2009 11:25 pm)
Nice job Neely! Phoned in another one, huh? I guess you wouldn't know a slam-dunk if you fell over one.... I just threw up in my mouth, a little.
cont...
(posted by
GaryShorts
, June 29, 2009 9:27 pm)
And to everyone who should fall to this attack to know how to get out of a locked car trunk. There is usually a safety handled and even if you can't operate it to kick the tail lights out. However perhaps if the victim cooperated the outcome might of been different, but I know sometimes fighting back it the better decision...sometimes. And to these stupid thugs, robbing a delivery guy just created more trouble.
What comes out of this?
(posted by
GaryShorts
, June 29, 2009 9:21 pm)
I think that law enforcement did a very good job to apprehend the party of these crimes quickly. Unfortunately the police cannot be everywhere. To the public, I'm not saying there is blame, but I cannot help but wonder with Zhang yelling that other witnesses may of heard his cries but they ignore it to not get involved. I will continue to say it was irresponsible of those who accepted the stolen credit card to not check ID and realize that is black man buying beer was not Zhang....
After reading the plea agreement
(posted by
Einstein
, June 29, 2009 8:22 pm)
one can reasonably conclude there was no reason for the Commonwealth to make any deals or negotiate at all with the defendant. Moreover, one could also ask if the deliberate, willful and premeditated actions of Mr Montgomery, as depicted in the agreement, do not meet the standard, what in God's name would an individual have to do to earn the death penalty in Spotsylvania county? Or is it strictly a function of maintaining the county's budget?
At what Cost did Neely save money?
(posted by
Istriken417
, June 29, 2009 7:07 pm)
Ok... It is great that Neely tried to save the commonwealth money, but what is the expense here? This man tortured a human being for his car and some money, what does it take to get the death penalty in Virginia? To save the Commonwealth $1 million now, they will spend how much over the rest of this guy's life to keep him in Jail? Someone needs to tell Neely that he needs to try a couple cases once in a while!
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