Attorney for teen charged in slaying of 15-year-old girl asks for reduced bond

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (WKBN) — The attorney for a 17-year-old boy accused of killing a 15-year-old girl last April asked a judge on Thursday to reduce his client’s bond.

Attorney Aaron Meikle filed the motion in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court on behalf of Danyo Sellers, 17, aka, Legend Pless, who is in the Mahoning County Jail on charges of murder, attempted murder, felonious assault and improper handling of a firearm in a motor vehicle for the April 15, 2023, shooting death of Amya Monserrat at a birthday party at a restaurant in the 3000 block of Southern Boulevard.

Monseratt was outside in the parking lot when a car with a group of people inside drove by and someone inside the car fired several shots, hitting her. Police do not believe she was the intended target of the gunfire.

Sellers was initially charged as a juvenile in the case and it was bound over in December to adult court. Court records do not list a bond for Sellers. He was ordered held without bond when he was arraigned in juvenile court, and when the case was transferred to adult court, there was no entry of a bond ever being set.

Sellers’ previous attorney, Michael Scala, filed a motion for bond reduction Jan. 19, according to court records. He withdrew from the case in May and Meikle then took over as Sellers’ lawyer. There is no record of Scala’s motion ever being ruled on.

The case has been assigned to Judge Anthony D’Apolito with a Nov. 18 trial date.

In his motion, Meikle said a bond of $100,000 would be appropriate for his client. Meikle also said his client has been declared indigent and cannot afford to post a high bond, which violates his constitutional rights.

Additionally, Meikle said while a murder case generally requires a high bond, the circumstances in Sellers’ case are different because the main witness for the prosecution has recanted previous testimony, and “physical evidence in discovery tends to align with the defendant’s [Sellers] statement.”

It is not known who that witness is but a co-defendant who previously pleaded guilty, Saun Peterson, 22, had also asked for a reduced bond only for his attorney to withdraw that motion earlier this week.

Peterson has been held on $250,000 bond since he was arraigned May 18, 2023, in common pleas court after he was indicted by a grand jury. He has been in the county jail since then.

Police said Peterson drove the car used in the shooting.

Peterson pleaded guilty in November to two counts of felonious assault, obstructing official business, improper handling of a firearm in a motor vehicle and a five-year firearm specification.

A sentencing date has yet to be set for Peterson. When a co-defendant pleads guilty, they usually are not sentenced until the case against the other defendant’s case is finished.

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