Sentence upheld in Wilkes-Barre fatal shooting
May 14—A state appellate court Tuesday upheld the decades long prison sentence for Dazon Wykie Turner, who was convicted by a Luzerne County jury of killing a man and injuring two women in a Wilkes-Barre shooting in 2020.
Turner, 24, formerly of Tannersville, maintained the shooting was self-defense and challenged the evidence presented during his August 2021, trial did not support the jury's verdicts.
A jury convicted Turner of voluntary manslaughter and two counts of aggravated assault stemming from the death of Carlos Taffanelly and injuring his wife, Liliana Giraldo and her daughter, Jamielyn Giraldo, on Oct. 5, 2020.
The shooting happened on North Street near North River Street.
Judge David W. Lupas, who presided over the trial, sentenced Turner to 20 to 40 years in state prison.
During the trial, assistant district attorneys Carl Frank and Drew McLaughlin told the jury Turner and Jamielyn Giraldo were engaged in a domestic dispute at an apartment on Darling Street.
Jamielyn Giraldo called Taffanelly, who traveled from their Stroudsburg home to pick her up.
When Taffanelly and his wife, Liliana Giraldo, arrived, Turner alleged Taffanelly threatened him with a pipe and Liliana Giraldo threatened him with a tool.
As they drove away in opposite directions, Turner turned around and followed Taffanelly where he was stopped at North River and North streets. Turner passed through the red traffic signal and stopped, where he claimed Taffanelly drove his vehicle at him as he stood on a sidewalk.
Turner, who testified in his own defense, claimed Taffanelly charged at him with a pipe and Liliana Giraldo came at him with a tool.
Turner told the jury he ran to his Jeep and grabbed a loaded 9mm he fired multiple times.
A forensic pathologist testified Taffanelly sustained seven gunshot wounds including two to his back. Liliana Giraldo and Jamielyn Giraldo each sustained a single gunshot wound in the shooting.
In his appeal, Turner believed the evidence was insufficient to prove voluntary manslaughter for the shooting of Taffanelly and aggravated assault counts for the injuries sustained by the two women.
A three-member panel of the Pennsylvania Superior Court in a 25-page opinion denied Turner's appeal ruling Lupas correctly denied a request for a new trial and the jury was free to believe testimony from witnesses and the evidence presented by Frank and McLaughlin.
The appellate court ordered a restitution hearing as Turner was ordered to pay $9,000 for Taffanelly's funeral expenses. The restitution hearing is simply for the method of how payment is to be made, whether in full or partial payments.
