Man pleads guilty to bludgeoning teens

Tuesday, July 06, 2010
By Jim McKinnon, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Keith Scott was spared the death penalty today after he pleaded guilty to the bludgeoning deaths in 2008 of a teen and her younger brother and the near killing of their mother at their Penn Hills home.

Mr. Scott's apology in court was interrupted by the children's uncle who shouted from the gallery, "Kill yourself," before being escorted from the courtroom.

For the killing of Iesha Drake, 18, and her brother, Naim, 14, Common Pleas Judge Anthony Mariani sentenced Mr. Scott to two consecutive life terms in prison.

In addition, he was ordered to serve 10 to 20 years for the attempted murder the the children's mother, Nikiesha Warren.

"I survived an execution," Ms. Warren said before the judge pronounced the sentences.

Ms. Warren and her daughter, then a recent graduate of Penn Hills High School and bound for college, had been asleep when Mr. Scott helped Naim get ready for school.

The boy already was on crutches from a football injury.

The two women were attacked in their sleep.

Ms. Warren said she remembered that she was partially awake after she had been dragged to the basement and locked in. Police found her there, unconscious and slumped over an open freezer.

She had been beaten about the head and face with a 20-pound weight, as were the children.

Naim, unaware that his mother and sister had been attacked, returned from school, and he was playing video games when he was beaten with the same weight.

Although the mother survived, she required several reconstructive surgeries with 16 surgical plates implanted to repair her shattered face and skull.

"My children were my whole team," Ms. Warren said, weeping as she addressed the court. "I survive daily because of their peers. People tattooing their names, marking up their skin out of love."

From: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10187/1070792-100.stm