Prosecutor officially files charges against 3 teens


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BY PETER E. BORTNER
STAFF WRITER
Published: Tuesday, September 30, 2008 4:16 AM EDT
Prosecutors officially filed charges Monday in Schuylkill County Court against three teenagers charged in connection with the fatal beating of an illegal Mexican immigrant in July in Shenandoah.

A criminal information — the document detailing the exact offenses charged and the sections of Pennsylvania law allegedly violated — was lodged against Derrick M. Donchak, 18, of Shenandoah, and Brandon J. Piekarsky, 16, and Colin J. Walsh, 17, both of Shenandoah Heights, District Attorney James P. Goodman said Monday.

Piekarsky, Walsh and Donchak are charged in connection with the death of Luis Eduardo Ramirez Zavala, 25, of Shenandoah. The filing of the information is a formality done in every criminal case brought to the county court.

Schuylkill County detectives allege the three — as well as a fourth teenager who is charged as a juvenile — beat and yelled racial epithets at Ramirez on July 12. Ramirez died two days later at Geisinger Medical Center, Danville, as a result of the beating, detectives said.

Each defendant will be arraigned on the charges and enter a not guilty plea next week in the county court, Goodman said. However, it is almost certain that none will personally appear in court for that, he said.

“The majority of the people file waivers. I’m sure that’s what will happen,â€