Murder of Jennifer Daugherty

Jennifer Lee Daugherty (November 8, 1979 – February 11, 2010) was an American woman from Mount Pleasant, Pennsylvania, who had the mental abilities of an adolescent, according to her relatives, and trusted everyone around her. In February 2010, she was killed by a group of six people she considered to be her new circle of friends, later referred to as "The Greensburg Six."

According to testimony from the case, Daugherty traveled from her home to an apartment at 428 N. Pennsylvania Avenue in Greensburg on Monday, February 8, 2010, after being invited by Ricky Smyrnes, who had recently begun hosting Amber Meidinger and her boyfriend Melvin Knight. Daugherty was then held captive for three days, during which she was repeatedly tortured. Testimony described the group stealing money and items from her purse, hitting her with soda bottles and a metal towel rack, cutting her hair, painting her face with nail polish, and dumping liquids, spices, and oatmeal on her head. She was stripped naked, gagged, and raped by Knight, and was forced to consume feces, urine, and detergent. Her last recorded words were a note to her mother expressing love and hope that she would have a good day at work.

Witnesses testified that co-defendant Angela Marinucci had discussed killing Daugherty days before the murder, reportedly after overhearing Smyrnes tell Daugherty he loved her and wanted to marry her, amid an alleged love triangle involving Smyrnes, Marinucci, and Daugherty. According to testimony, Robert Masters helped Daugherty attempt to retrieve clothing that had been thrown out a window, but before she could leave, Knight and Smyrnes returned and the group voted to kill her. Peggy Miller tied her with Christmas lights, the group forced her to write a fake suicide note, and Smyrnes gave Knight a steak knife, which Knight used to stab her in the chest and throat. Her body was placed in a garbage can and dumped in the parking lot of Greensburg-Salem Middle School.

Trials for the six defendants spanned from 2010 to 2022. Melvin Knight pleaded guilty in April 2012 to first- and second-degree murder, kidnapping, and conspiracy, and was sentenced to death in August 2012; his sentence was upheld on appeal in March 2019 and again after a further appeal was unanimously rejected. Ricky Smyrnes was sentenced to death in February 2013, a sentence a judge upheld in February 2017. Angela Marinucci, who was 17 at the time of the crime, was found guilty of first-degree murder and given a mandatory sentence of life without parole in August 2011; following the U.S. Supreme Court rulings in Miller v. Alabama and Montgomery v. Louisiana, she was re-sentenced in July 2015 to the same term, and in May 2022 was resentenced to 60 years to life with parole eligibility in 2070. Amber Meidinger, who testified against the others, was sentenced in December 2013 to 40 to 80 years after pleading guilty to third-degree murder, kidnapping, and conspiracy. Peggy Miller was sentenced to 35 to 74 years. Robert Masters, who also reached a plea agreement, pleaded guilty in December 2013 to third-degree murder and conspiracy charges and was sentenced to 30 to 70 years.

The case drew national attention and led Pennsylvania State Senator Kim Ward to propose "Jennifer's Law" in April 2012, which would criminalize failing to report witnessed violent crimes; it was signed into law in 2012.