A coordinated effort is being developed between area and Baltimore police officials as an alleged killer remains on the loose.
\nBlair County District Attorney Dave Gorman said the hunt for Andre Staton, 36, whose last known address was 1304 First Avenue, Altoona, continues today. Staton is wanted for the Wednesday morning stabbing death of his former girlfriend Beverly Yohn.
\nGorman stated the suspect does have family in the Baltimore area.
\n\u201cWe\u2019ve (notified) Baltimore law enforcement officials of the case and of Mr. Staton\u2019s previous known addresses, assuming he\u2019s fled to the Baltimore area,\u201d Gorman told The Daily News in a telephone interview. \u201cWe\u2019ve also faxed them a copy of the arrest warrant.\u201d
\nInvestigators report that Staton showed up at the Third Avenue, Altoona home of Yohn\u2019s mother \u2014 with whom Yohn and her three children were staying \u2014 at just after 8 a.m. Wednesday. According to police, Staton proceeded to break into the first floor apartment, approached Yohn, then began to stab her with a large butcher knife while her two younger children, ages 6 and 9, looked on.
\nGorman said while Yohn did apparently try to escape, she was unable and collapsed inside the home.
\n\u201cShe was attempting to get away from Mr. Staton, but could not,\u201d Gorman said. \u201cWe believe she was taken by surprise.
\n\u201cThere is a window to the right of the door he kicked in to gain entry, but we\u2019re not sure if she saw him come in.\u201d
\nPolice said Staton quickly left the house after the attack and took off in Yohn\u2019s car, a 1991 Chrysler LeBaron. Gorman said the car was already running.
\n\u201cJust prior to the attack, the victim had asked her 10-year-old son to go outside and start her car,\u201d Gorman said. \u201cShe was getting ready to take her children to school.
\n\u201cThe 10-year-old was still outside when the attack occurred,\u201d he continued. \u201cWhen Mr. Staton came outside, he apparently pushed the victim\u2019s oldest son out of the way and took the car.\u201d
\nGorman said the vehicle has since been found, but without it\u2019s last known driver.
\n\u201cThe LeBaron was found abandoned last evening,\u201d he explained. \u201cSomeone saw it on the news and reported it to us.\u201d
\nGorman said \u201cinformants\u201d told police Staton could now be traveling in a red car. No make or model was given.
\nAccording to Blair County coroner Patricia Ross, Yohn suffered from 11 stab wounds \u2014 seven to the chest and four to the back. Ross said the knife blade eventually broke off inside her. A full autopsy was scheduled for 10 a.m. Thursday morning, to be performed by Conemaugh forensic pathologist Dr. Vimal Mittal, in Johnstown.
\nA protection from abuse order was filed by Yohn against Staton in Blair County Jan. 27. A final order was issued just last week. Yohn told authorities Staton had threatened to kill her on \u201cnumerous occasions.\u201d
\nGorman said the Blair County sheriff had not be able to serve the final order.
\n\u201cWe believe Staton was aware of the PFA order,\u201d he said, \u201cbut after making numerous attempts, sheriff\u2019s deputies had been unable to serve him at his home. They believe he was inside but was just not coming to the door.\u201d
\nGorman said Crime Solvers of Blair County has offered a reward of up to $2,000 for information leading to Staton\u2019s arrest. Meanwhile, he warned, residents should use caution.
\n\u201cHe\u2019s to be considered extremely dangerous,\u201d Gorman noted. \u201cIf he\u2019s seen, he should not be approached. People should instead contact local police.
\n\u201cWe fully intend to seek the death penalty in this case,\u201d he added. \u201cWe want the public to know every resource is being used to locate this fugitive.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A coordinated effort is being developed between area and Baltimore police officials as an alleged killer remains on the loose. Blair County District Attorney Dave Gorman said the hunt for Andre Staton, 36, whose last known address was 1304 First Avenue, Altoona, continues today. Staton is wanted for the Wednesday morning stabbing death of his […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-45047","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-local-news-in-the-tyrone-pennsylvania-area"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45047","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=45047"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45047\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=45047"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=45047"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=45047"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}