Death sought for man accused of killing over newborn’s name

PITTSBURGH (AP) - A Pittsburgh man charged with killing his girlfriend and her grandmother because the younger woman wouldn’t name their newborn son after him could face execution if convicted.

Twenty-five-year-old Cesar Mazza is jailed on two counts of criminal homicide and a charge of kidnapping his 11-week-old son, Vaughn. Prosecutors said Thursday that they would seek the death penalty.

Police found the bodies of the mother, 19-year-old Tionna Banks, and her 72-year-old grandmother, Valorie Crumpton, at Crumpton’s home May 7. Banks later was arrested in Newark, New Jersey.

Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen Zappala Jr. says Mazza deserves the death penalty because Crumpton was killed for being a witness to Banks’ killing, because there were multiple killings and because Mazza was under a court order not to abuse Banks.

Mazza’s defense attorney didn’t immediately comment.