Lamour Branch was back in court Monday as he inches closer to facing first-degree murder charges in connection with the deaths of New Philadelphia teens Hunter Mock and Angelito Caraballo in October 2023.
At a status conference in Courtroom 2 at Schuylkill County Courthouse Monday morning, President Judge Jacqueline Russell got both legal sides to confirm that a trial is ready to get underway on May 4. Jury selection is scheduled for May 1. Those dates were penciled in at a similar conference in late-December.
Last week, Branch’s attorney, Public Defender Ashley Sabol, filed for a continuance as she awaits a report from her DNA expert. That motion was denied but in court on Monday, she told Russell the continuance wasn’t needed after all. Sabol said that despite the lack of a report, her DNA expert said Friday they’ve reviewed the evidence and agree with the conclusions of the District Attorney’s expert on it.
Branch is accused of shooting Mock in the head and then stabbing Caraballo to death at a wooded area near New Philadelphia known as The Sanchez back on Oct. 8, 2023. He then allegedly fled the area and was arrested on a warrant related to another incident at a home in Mountain Top. Branch was formally charged with their murders in June 2024 following a lengthy investigation.
In addition to a pair of first-degree murder charges, Branch also faces charges of third-degree murder and other offenses related to the alleged incident at The Sanchez back in October 2023.
Commonwealth v. Lamour Branch: Trial Prep Begins
On Monday, Schuylkill County District Attorney Mike O’Pake informed Russell that he expects his case to take three or four days to present to jurors.
Sabol said she needs to discuss pre-trial motions (motions in limine) with O’Pake and those will likely be filed for April.
With regard to a jury pool, Russell said she prefers giving prospective jurors a longer questionnaire than normal for higher-profile cases such as this. In that questionnaire, potential jurors will be given a list of all the witnesses to be called during the trial and whether they know them.
Russell instructed O’Pake and Sabol to confer and potentially come up with a collaborative proposed questionnaire for her approval or for each to craft one of their own and have the judge put one together from their submissions. She said she’ll speak to the jurors prior to giving them the questionnaire to ensure they know “not to talk about things” related to the trial.
In January 2025, Sabol made a motion for a venue change because she didn’t believe her client could get a fair trial in Schuylkill County, at least partly due to what was seen as “highly prejudicial” media coverage. Numerous news publishers and reporters were subpoenaed to testify, including Coal Region Canary, about their coverage of the case thus far.
Russell ordered that the hearing on that motion be delayed and was later pulled back by Sabol. It’s unclear if that motion will be refiled ahead of the May 4 trial.
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