The Murder of Jennifer Daugherty

Jennifer Lee Daugherty was born on November 8, 1979 in Latrobe, Pennsylvania to Richard Daugherty and Denise Murphy.  She had two sisters, Joy and Jamie, and a stepbrother named Dave.  Dave was the son of her stepfather, Bobby Murphy.  She had two nieces named Breanne and Bailey, and a nephew named Dylan.  

Jennifer had a disability that left her with the mental abilities of an adolescent and it’s said that she was functioning like someone who was fourteen years old.  Joy said that her sister was kind, trusted everybody, believed everyone was good, and that no one would hurt her.  Bobby, Jennifer’s stepdad, said that it was normal for Jennifer to travel from her house in Mount Pleasant, Pennsylvania to Greensburg, Pennsylvania, which is approximately ten miles, via the bus and by herself when she had appointments.  

Later, in victim impact statements, Jennifer’s family described her as being loved by all that knew her.  Her sister, Joy, said that Jennifer always wanted to be a part of the group, no matter what that group was.  She said that Jennifer loved life, being a part of anything that was going on around her, and that she saw the best in everyone.  Other family members stated that Jennifer always looked up to her sister and that the two were close growing up. 

In the time leading up to her death, Jennifer had told her parents that she had made some new friends.  Denise and Bobby didn’t press her for any details about them and life continued on for the family. 

On February 8, 2010, Jennifer went to the bus station to head to Greensburg for a doctor’s appointment as she had done many times before and it was her stepdad, Bobby, who had dropped her off.  Later that day, Jennifer called home and asked her mom if she could spend the night at her friend, Peggy’s, house.  Jennifer planned to return home the next day, Tuesday, February 9th, however, that was the last time her family had heard from her. 

A snowstorm was passing through the Greensburg area and the county had asked the residents to move any vehicles they could off of the streets so that snow plows could safely come through and clear the roads.  For those who didn’t have extra garage or driveway space, local parking lots would have to do.  Daniel Grant decided to park his truck in the parking lot of the Greensburg-Salem Middle School and when he walked over on the morning of February 10th, 2010, he was met with a gruesome discovery. 

When Daniel made his way over to his truck, he found that someone had left a whole ass garbage can underneath it.  He wasn’t able to just drive over it, so he pulled the garbage can out so he could get on his way.  However, when he removed the garbage can from underneath his truck, he discovered that the body of a woman was inside.  The woman’s body had been placed head first into the garbage can and was partially covered in plastic bags with Christmas lights wrapped around her neck and wrists.  Her ankles were bound with white Christmas garland.

Daniel immediately called police who rushed to the scene.  Because of the way the woman’s body was put into the garbage can, the medical examiner’s office put the entire thing into a body bag and took her for an autopsy.  

Police immediately began their investigation and decided to set up their command center at the middle school.  The snowstorm was so large that school had actually been canceled that week, so there was no cause for concern that any of the students or staff would hinder the investigation or be subject to what had been found in the parking lot.  Police also shut down a portion of North Main Street in each direction so that they could attempt to determine where the garbage can had come from.  

There were still no leads by the following morning on who the murdered woman was, but they had been able to determine that the woman was approximately 5’9”, weighed about 140 pounds, and had been wearing jeans and either a gray or black hooded shirt.  This information was put out to the public as well as a statement that it was unlikely that the garbage can had made its way underneath the truck all on its own.  

Jennifer Daugherty’s family hadn’t heard from or seen her since she went to the bus stop on February 8th, and they had been desperately trying to get in touch with her.  When they had seen the information about the body found in the school parking lot, they immediately called to find out if that person was their daughter.  

When it was determined that the body found in the garbage can was that of Jennifer Daugherty, it didn’t take long for investigators to find out who had put her there.  Jennifer’s parents knew that Jennifer had been planning to stay at a friend’s house on Pennsylvania Avenue in Greensburg.  They believed that that was the address of a girl named Peggy, however, it was actually the address of someone named Ricky Smyrnes.  After learning this information, the police were able to determine who was involved in the murder of Jennifer Daugherty. 

On the evening of February 11th, 2010, the police held a press conference and announced that six people were being charged with Jennifer’s murder.

Before discussing what led to Jennifer’s murder, let’s talk about who the perpetrators were and how they all knew each other.  Amber Meidinger was born on January 12, 1990 and was the girlfriend of Melvin Knight.  Melvin was born on October 27, 1989.  His father was in prison in the early years of his life and Melvin developed lifelong learning and social problems after falling out of a moving truck at the age of five and hitting his head.  

Amber and Melvin met at a homeless shelter in Washington in January of 2010 and before settling in Greensburg, Pennsylvania together, they moved around to several different places.  Melvin knew a man named Ricky Smyrnes from a mutual stay in jail.  

Ricky Smyrnes was born on March 6, 1986.  His mom was reportedly addicted to drugs and was a sex worker, and his father was in a gang in Pittsburgh.  He was in and out of foster care throughout his childhood and was treated for mental health disorders beginning when he was four-years-old.  He dealt with neglect and abuse until the age of ten when the Smyrnes family took him in.  According to his attorney, he suffered sexual and physical abuse from both his father and his uncle and by the age of six, he had tried beer, cocaine, heroin, and marijuana.  At eight, he was diagnosed with PTSD as well as having seven different personalities and fifteen different psychiatric issues.  At the time of Jennifer’s murder, Ricky was married with a child and also dating one of the other perpetrators in this case.  

Ricky also had a protective order filed against him from a previous girlfriend because he had broken a water pitcher over her head and attempted to rape her.  According to her, Ricky was abusive when he wasn’t on his medication.  According to Heather Ashley’s research over at Big Mad True Crime – HEY GIRL WE LOVE YOU! – Ricky’s own mother filed a PFA against him in 2008 claiming that he had pushed her, screamed at her, and threatened to kill her when she went to retrieve items from his apartment that he had stolen from her.  Ricky was released from jail not even a month before Jennifer was killed, so his track record simply speaks for itself.

Angela Marinucci was born on July 14, 1992 and according to testimony by her mother and sister, she had suffered a head injury at the age of 15 when she was hit by a truck.  Her behavior was substantially altered after the injury and according to expert testimony at her trial, she suffered from depression and may have had drug and alcohol addictions as a teenager.  Robert Masters was born on December 22, 1973 and Peggy Miller was born on February 3, 1983.  

Melvin and Amber, who was pregnant with Melvin’s child, met up with Ricky on February 8, 2010 at a hotel they had been staying at in the Greensburg area.  Having known Melvin from a stay in jail together, Ricky invited the couple to stay at his apartment.  Amber knew Jennifer from a facility that they both attended that provided services to clients with mental disabilities and/or disorders.  

Alright, so, what led to the horrific murder of Jennifer?  A lot of bullshit, that’s what.  At some point, Amber and Jennifer had a conversation where Jennifer allegedly stated that she was going to marry Ricky Smyrnes.  Now, remember, Jennifer had a disability that ultimately caused her to be functioning at the intellectual capacity of a fourteen-year-old.  Angela Marinucci overheard this comment and quickly became upset, which Amber noticed.  

Amber and Angela later had a conversation where Angela confided in her friend that she was in a relationship with a married man.  That married man was Ricky Smyrnes.  Angela was 17-years-old at the time and Ricky was 23.  After this, Amber overheard a phone call between Angela and Ricky where Angela said, “You better not be with that bitch.”  

After all of this, the six friends ended up back at Ricky’s apartment where he called Jennifer and invited her to stay over.  It seems like this is where Jennifer called her mom and asked permission to stay at Peggy’s house, likely not wanting to alert her parents to her plan to stay with a boy.  

Jennifer arrived at Ricky’s apartment to spend time with her “friends” and it didn’t take long for things to take a turn for the worse.  Allegedly, Jennifer asked Ricky to have sex with her, but he “angrily refused.”  Despite this, Jennifer stayed the night at the apartment, and the next day, she decided that she wasn’t going to attend her scheduled doctor’s appointment at 3:00 pm.  It’s unclear who all stayed the night on that first night, but throughout the time Jennifer was held captive after this, all six were present.  I just wanted to make note of that as it becomes a little murky for a minute here.  

Jennifer went to take a shower and while she did so, Ricky called Angela to tell her about Jennifer’s alleged advances the night before.  Angela’s response to this was, “Nobody is having sex with my man.”  Well, except maybe HIS WIFE, but I digress.  Angela told Ricky that she wanted to beat up Jennifer and that he should not let her leave the apartment.  

The part of the group that was at the apartment at this time, which appears to be everyone but Angela, went through Jennifer’s purse and then poured toothpaste and mouthwash in and on her purse as well as on her clothing.  Amber then took Jennifer’s cellphone while Melvin took her cash and a gift card that she had.  Once Jennifer was out of the shower, Melvin told Jennifer to go buy him cigarettes with the money he had taken from her.  Jennifer initially refused, but ultimately gave in to his demand.  It isn’t explicitly stated, but I assume that she left and came back with the cigarettes.  Once she returned, the group continued to harass her.  Ricky and Melvin hit her on the head with empty plastic bottles.  Jennifer grew angry and called Melvin an “asshole,” but he then pushed her into a wall and choked her.  He continued to choke her until she had fallen to the floor in tears. 

Shortly after this, Angela arrived and was still upset about Jennifer making sexual advances toward Ricky.  She confronted Jennifer with Amber by her side and forced her into the bathroom.  Once in the bathroom, Angela pushed her into the metal towel rack three times and hit her in the head and chest.  Angela then told Amber that Jennifer actually liked her boyfriend, Melvin.  All the while, Jennifer is denying having any interest in either of them.  

At this point, Ricky and Melvin joined in and drug Jennifer from the bathroom and began pouring spices and oatmeal on her head.  Angela also poured water on Jennifer and then Ricky forced Jennifer to take another shower.  Once Jennifer was out of the shower, they forced her to remove her clothes and threw them out the window.  Angela and Ricky then cut Jennifer’s hair, made her clean it, then took her into the living room, and stuffed a sock in her mouth.  After this, Melvin raped Jennifer.

Ricky and Melvin then forced her into the attic because the tenant who was actually on the lease of the apartment had returned to retrieve some of their property.  At this time, police ended up showing up at the apartment because Ricky and Melvin had gotten into an altercation with the tenant, but they eventually left.  

After all of this, Angela decided that she was going to spend the night at the apartment that night.  So, she, Ricky, Melvin, and Amber left to go to Angela’s house to pick up her prescription medication.  While they were gone, Ricky told Peggy and Robert to stay with Jennifer and not allow her to leave.

While on their way back to the apartment, Peggy called them to advise that Jennifer was attempting to leave.  When they made it back to the apartment, Melvin and Ricky began beating Jennifer.  Melvin was particularly angry at this point because his girlfriend, Amber, was pregnant with his child and had passed out on the way back to the apartment.  They had been running back to the apartment to prevent Jennifer from leaving and the overexertion had caused her to pass out.  And OBVIOUSLY, that was Jennifer’s fault.  I literally cannot with these vile humans.  

Jennifer told her captors that she had a headache, so Ricky and Melvin gave her some of Angela’s medication, Seroquel.  Seroquel does not treat headaches.  It treats bipolar disorder, so awesome, thanks, guys.  They then left Jennifer in the living room and they all went to bed. 

The next morning, Angela, Ricky, and Melvin left the apartment to cash a check and instructed Amber, Robert, and Peggy to not allow Jennifer to leave.  Once they returned, a dispute over SODA (COKE, if ya nasty) caused Angela to push Jennifer to the floor, sit on top of her, and punch her in the face.  Jennifer decided it was high time to defend herself and kneed Angela in the stomach.  Angela told Ricky that Jennifer had killed her baby, but Angela wasn’t actually pregnant.  At this, Ricky said to Jennifer, “If you want to kill my kid, why should I let you live?”

Angela then told Ricky that he needed to choose between her and Jennifer, and if he chose Jennifer, he had to get rid of her.  So, he did what any fucking asshole would do and called a “family meeting.”  At this meeting, Ricky asked the others what kind of mother they thought Jennifer would be.  

Shortly after the first meeting, a second one was held to determine what Jennifer could have to drink after she said that she was thirsty.  Once they made their decision, Angela put Jennifer back in the bathroom and Amber hit her in the head with a towel rack so that they could force her to drink Angela’s urine from a cup.  Jennifer immediately gagged into the toilet, so they forced her to drink a second concoction made up of urine, feces, spices, parsley, and garlic.  All the while, Amber was repeatedly hitting her with the towel rack.  A third mixture was created containing powdered detergent, water, and some of Amber’s medication, and Jennifer was again hit in the head until she obeyed.  She was forced to consume it all until she vomited.

Ricky and Melvin were reportedly not satisfied with the humiliation that Jennifer had received up until this point, so they decided to wrap Christmas lights around her.  Angela insisted that they work so she would look like a Christmas tree.  When the lights didn’t blink like she wanted them to, Amber, Angela, Ricky, and Melvin unwrapped them from around her and tied her wrists and ankles.  They then added Christmas garland to her ankles.  While all of this was going on, Peggy’s nail polish was painted on Jennifer’s face.. 

Then Ricky called a third “family meeting,” where he asked the group if they should kill Jennifer.  All six of them agreed to killing Jennifer.  Once the decision was made, they forced her to write a suicide note.  Jennifer had written that she wasn’t happy for a long time, but she loved her mom and stepdad no matter what.  She wrote that she will always love the rest of her family, too, and said that her niece and nephew would be lucky to have a better aunt than her.  Once she finished writing the forced note, Angela said, “Just kill that bitch.”

The group then led Jennifer to the bathroom for the last time where Ricky told Melvin, “You know what to do.”  Ricky grabbed a steak knife that he gave to Melvin.  Melvin hesitated for just a moment before entering the bathroom and stabbing Jennifer in her chest, torso, and throat – several times.  Jennifer did not die from these injuries, so Ricky then entered the bathroom and slit her wrists.  He then strangled her with the Christmas lights. 

After Jennifer was murdered at his hands, Ricky called yet another “family meeting” to decide how they were going to dispose of her body.  Angela initially voted to burn Jennifer’s body in front of a church, but instead, Ricky and Melvin put Jennifer in plastic bags in a garage can. 

This takes us back to the morning of February 10th, 2010, when Jennifer’s body was found in the middle school parking lot.  Before getting into the trials, I wanted to discuss what the autopsy found.  Dr. Cyril Wecht performed the autopsy of Jennifer’s body and determined that she suffered multiple incised wounds, abrasions, and contusions.  Several prescription drugs were found in her system and the cause of death was a combination of all the injuries she sustained, but was primarily due to the stab wounds to her chest.  These had penetrated her left lung and went into her heart producing a substantial hemorrhage.  Dr. Wecht believes that these injuries were inflicted shortly before her death with the intent to cause pain and suffering.  Dr. Wecht noted that she would have likely remained unconscious after the wounds were initially inflicted, she would have bled for a few minutes, lost consciousness, and finally died within four to six minutes.  

Once arrested, the events described above started to come to light by the perpetrators.  Melvin admitted to stabbing Jennifer, while Ricky admitted to disposing of her body with Melvin’s help.  Upon Angela’s arrest and initial incarceration, she made several incriminating statements to other inmates at the Westmoreland County Correctional Facility.  She admitted to one inmate that she had assaulted Jennifer because Jennifer and Ricky had engaged in sexual relations, and that she was the one who wanted her dead.  She told another inmate that she wanted Jennifer dead because she had stolen Ricky and another boyfriend from her.  A third inmate said that Angela told her that she had lured the victim to the apartment and said that she “fed feces to re****s.” 

Angela Marinucci was the first of the Greensburg Six to be convicted for Jennifer’s murder.  At her trial, prosecutors claimed that she was the one who initiated the torture Jennifer was subjected to, and that she coerced the others to participate.  She was found guilty of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.  

However, that sentence was overturned after the state appeals court ruled that juveniles are ineligible to face mandatory life prison terms.  Angela was then sentenced another life sentence in 2017, but that was also overturned because there was no potential for parole.  In 2022, Judge Rita Hathaway imposed Angela’s third sentence.  This sentence included consecutive prison terms of forty years to life for Jennifer’s murder and an additional 20-40 years in prison for conspiracy.  

Angela again appealed her sentencing claiming that the length of her sentence violated the state constitution and was based on the judge’s bias.  In January of 2024, a panel of three Superior Court judges rejected the appeal.  Then in June of 2024, Supreme Court justices filed a one-sentence ruling that they would not hear her latest appeal.

Both Ricky Smyrnes and Melvin Knight were found guilty and sentenced to death by lethal injection for their roles in Jennifer’s murder.  Both have been trying to appeal their convictions, however, both convictions have been upheld. 

Amber Meidinger pleaded guilty to third-degree murder and was sentenced to 40-80 years in prison.  She was a key witness during Angela’s, Melvin’s, and Ricky’s trials.  I say she got fucking lucky. 

Peggy Miller and Robert Masters both also pleaded guilty to third-degree murder.  Peggy was sentenced to 35-74 years in prison and Masters was sentenced to 30-70 years.  Again, lucky.  While it seems that they didn’t participate as much as the others, they certainly knew how to pick up a phone and call 911, so go ahead and rot in prison for all I care.  

Kim Ward, a Republican state senator in Pennsylvania proposed legislation that she hopes will eliminate some of the problems that were uncovered after Jennifer’s death.  She calls it “Jennifer’s Law,” and a pivotal part of her proposal was to make it a crime for people to witness a violent crime and not report it to police or other authorities – if they can avoid being harmed themselves.  The law was passed and violation to report the crime would be a third degree misdemeanor.