MURDER PLEA: Victim lured to steal heroin, DA says

After luring a man to a Binghamton residence to steal heroin, a woman and her boyfriend fatally stabbed him in the neck, according to prosecutors.

The victim's body was left in the house for just over two weeks, prosecutors said, while the killers used the stolen heroin.

On the eve of Ariana Edwards' trial in the August 2015 death of Michael C. Thomas, the 38-year-old Binghamton woman pleaded guilty Friday to a felony count of second-degree murder. Her last-minute plea — jury selection was scheduled to begin Monday for trial — leaves sentencing up to Broome County Court Judge Joseph Cawley, who could send her to state prison for 15 years to life or up to 25 years to life.

The death of Thomas and Edwards' conviction shows how easily the heroin epidemic can send addicts down a path of crime and violence, Broome County District Attorney Steve Cornwell said after Friday's guilty plea.

Had the case gone to trial, Cornwell said, the evidence would have proven what he called a "despicable" crime: Edwards and her boyfriend, Bradley Miles, lured Thomas to a Mather Street apartment to rob and kill him, in order to steal heroin — the victim was an acquaintance of theirs, and he had previously been selling heroin, according to prosecutors.

Thomas was killed by a stab wound to the neck that went into the vertebrae, according to Cornwell. Edwards and Miles stayed in the apartment with the victim's body, he said, so they could use the heroin.

Miles, 31, is facing a 30-year prison term when sentenced in February after he pleaded guilty to a felony count of first-degree manslaughter. He and Edwards were charged with acting in concert with each other, meaning one or both were culpable in the crime.

"Their souls, in our opinion, are irredeemable, and they have no business walking the streets," Cornwell said Friday of both defendants. "It was a very difficult case to deal with, especially since the body wasn't discovered for 2½ weeks and experts were involved to determine the cause of death."

The case also involved a lot of forensic evidence and witness testimony that would have been presented to jurors in the anticipated trial, said Assistant District Attorney Joshua Shapiro, who was poised to prosecute the trial in court along with Assistant District Attorney Peter DeLucia.

Edwards' defense lawyer Ron Lanouette left the courthouse Friday without comment.

Sentencing for Edwards is scheduled for Feb. 23, and she remains held in the Broome County jail.

Prosecutors had previously argued that Edwards and Miles, both white supremacists, also based part of their crime on a racial motivation that ultimately did not factor into either of their admissions of guilt.

Edwards told Miles that Thomas had raped her and he was killed in part because he was black, prosecutors argued in a Jan. 18 court hearing. Although although neither defendant was charged with a hate crime, prosecutors argued it helped prove their case.

Thomas, a father of four, had lived in Binghamton for 15 years before his death, his family members have said.

Edwards had faced other charges in two consolidated indictments: felony counts of first-degree robbery and intimidating a witness, the latter for allegedly threatening one of the prosecution's witnesses against testifying against her.

As part of Edwards' guilty plea to second-degree murder, the remaining charges she faced were dismissed.

By pleading guilty, Cawley said, Edwards gave up her right to have a jury decide her fate, and the plea serves the same legal effect of a jury returning with a guilty verdict.

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