County woman freed from jail in murder case
The girlfriend of a homicide suspect accused of hindering the investigation by helping him evade police will be released on house arrest pending the resolution of the case.
Lamaria M. Franklin, 20, of Winfield Township, will be released to the custody of her grandmother with the condition of court supervision.
Franklin faces a felony charge of hindering apprehension or prosecution for her alleged role in the aftermath of the homicide of 23-year-old Maximillian W. Halterman, who was found shot to death at his rental home in Oakland Township on March 20.
Authorities believe Halterman was killed the night before by 19-year-old Alec D. Miller, of Oakland Township. A manhunt for Miller began the morning Halterman's body was discovered.
When confronted by police Franklin told authorities she broke off contact with Miller the morning of March 20, according to an investigator who testified at her preliminary hearing. When police finally tracked down Miller to an apartment in Venango County later that day, Franklin was with him.
Her original bail was set at $100,000. But Franklin was unable to afford that amount and has remained in jail since the couple's capture.
Also charged in the case was Robbie L. Dunbar Jr., 27, of Butler, who police say drove Miller to an address on Jefferson Street in Butler after the homicide “in order to conceal him.”
Dunbar was released from prison in early June.He had been charged with hindering apprehension or prosecution and was being held on $25,000 bail, according to court records.
On Thursday, Franklin's court-appointed lawyer, Joel Lansing Hills, told Judge Timothy McCune that “she deserves to live with her grandmother and her child in Lyndora.”
Assistant District Attorney Laura Pitchford opposed reducing Franklin's bond.
“We think she's a flight risk based on the charges against her,” Pitchford said.
Hills argued that although prosecutors call her a flight risk, Franklin is indigent, with neither a car nor a driver's license.
Franklin testified Thursday that at the time of her arrest she had just started a factory job in Pittsburgh but said she wouldn't look for a job if she was released.
McCune agreed to release Franklin, but with the condition of court supervision. As of Thursday night, she was still being held in Butler County Prison.
