Two Fayette homicide trials delayed
Two unrelated Fayette County homicide trials were continued until October during a Friday court session. Both Mark D. Edwards, charged with the deaths of four members of the Bobish family, and Torey Vaughn Peterson, accused of killing William Eric Mason, requested the delays through their attorneys.
Edwards, 19, of 41 Snyder Terrace allegedly shot Larry Bobish Sr., 50, his wife, Joanna Bobish, 42, their daughter, Krystal Bobish, 17, and her unborn son and then set the Bobishes’ North Union Township home on fire April 14.
Larry Bobish Jr., the couple’s 12-year-old son, was shot and stabbed but managed to escape the family’s burning home.
State police allege Edwards confessed to shooting the Bobishes because he stole drugs from Larry Sr. in the days before the attack. Larry Jr., said police, identified Edwards as the attacker and testified at a preliminary hearing that he knew Edwards from prior visits to his parents’ Kennedy Street Extension home.
Edwards is charged with four counts of homicide, aggravated assault, burglary and arson, and he faces the death penalty if convicted of first-degree murder.
Brownsville police charged that 22-year-old Peterson fatally shot 23-year-old Mason on Jan. 11 after the two fought inside an apartment at the Hunters Ridge housing project.
Police said Mason came to the apartment around 4 a.m., yelling at the occupants. Peterson reportedly said that Mason repeatedly tried to draw a gun from his pants, and when the weapon fell to the floor, Peterson got control of it.
Peterson reportedly said that Mason was shot as the two struggled for the gun.
Police said Peterson indicated that Mason still had his hand on the .45-caliber gun when the weapon was fired.