Defense contends biased probe led to arrest in New Kensington boy's death

Lawyers for Brackenridge man facing a potential death penalty if he is convicted of killing of his 9-year-old son contend the investigation that led to his arrest in 2022 was the product of biased prosecutors and based on insufficient evidence.

Jean J. Charles, 44, is awaiting trial on charges of first-degree murder, criminal homicide, abuse of a corpse, unlawful restraint of a minor by a parent, strangulation, concealing the death of a child and tampering with physical evidence in connection with the May 4, 2022 death of Azuree Charles in New Kensington.

Jean Charles is accused of strangling his son then dragging his body over an embankment and hiding it under lawn furniture, police said. He is also accused of discarding a shovel used in the commission of the crime.

Video and photos of a man identified as Charles shows him carrying a shovel and pushing his son’s bike in the hours and locations near where police believed the killing took place, according to court records.

Public defenders Wayne McGrew and Michael Garofalo, in a series of pretrial motions filed Wednesday, claim prosecutors initially identified Charles as a suspect and never looked at alternative theories for the boy’s killing.

“Neither the district attorney’s office nor lead investigators considered the mother, the sole caretaker and household parent of the children as a primary suspect,” according to the defense’s court filing.

Prosecutors contend Charles had a violent history with his son.

In 2019 Charles pleaded guilty to assaulting the boy based on claims from the child that his father hit him in the face and beat him with a phone charger.

Police, according to court records, alleged Charles again physically assaulted the child in November 2021; that case is still pending.

As a result of the 2021 incident, the Westmoreland County Children’s Bureau prohibited Charles from having any unsupervised conduct with his four children, including Azuree.

Prosecutors contend Jean Charles killed his son to prevent him from testifying against him in connection with the 2021 assault case, according to court filings.

The defense is now arguing the evidence against Charles doesn’t support that claim.

Defense attorneys contend DNA evidence prosecutors relied on to substantiate the charges is tainted and does not link Charles to the killing. The suspected murder weapon has not been found, according to the defense.

The defense also argues that prosecutors never looked at other suspects, describing the investigation as a product of tunnel vision. They suggested the district attorney, her chief deputy and lead prosecutor on the case were involved in directing the initial investigation at the crime scene.

“Since its inception this case has been heavily influenced by intense political and community-based pressures leading investigators to succumb to tunnel vision and confirmation bias and leading the district attorney’s office to rest their case upon tenuous evidence not supporting inferences more likely than not,” the defense claims in the motion to dismiss the case.

Defense lawyers claim the prosecution’s case erroneously relies on evidence provided by the boy’s mother, including what they described as a shaky identification of Charles from photographs near the suspected site where the body was discovered.

Westmoreland County District Attorney Nicole Ziccarelli did not respond to a request for comment on Wednesday.

Azuree Charles’ mother, Luella Elien, 31, now of Pittsburgh, was charged with aggravated assault, child endangerment and hindering prosecution in connection to allegations she allowed the boy’s father to have contact with their son despite court-ordered restrictions. She allowed him to stay in the family home at East Ken Manor in New Kensington.

Elien is free on $50,000 bail as she awaits disposition of her case and is believed to be cooperating with prosecutors. Her case was called into court earlier this week for a pretrial conference and was postponed for six months.

Westmoreland County Common Pleas Court Judge Meagan Bilik-DeFazio is expected to schedule a hearing to consider the defense arguments raised by Charles in the coming months.

The judge this summer rejected another defense argument to dismiss the case against Charles based on alleged violations of the state’s speedy trial law. The defense unsuccessfully argued the prosecution dragged its feet into meeting pretrial discovery orders that resulted in lengthy delays in the case filed against Charles in September 2022.

The state’s speedy trial law requires defendants in jail must go to trial within six months excluding delays prompted by the defense.