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Men charged in Iowa triple homicide seek separate trials
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DES MOINES, Iowa — A judge has ruled that three men charged in the shooting death of three Des Moines teens will be tried together.
Emmanuel Totaye Jr., Daishawn Gills and Leontreal Jones had all filed motions seeking separate first-degree murder trials in the January 2020 deaths of brothers Devonte Swanks and Malachi Swanks and a friend, Thayne Wright.
Police found the bodies of the three teens inside a Des Moines home and say robbery was the motive for their killings.
The Des Moines Register reports that Polk County Judge David Porter last week granted prosecutors’ motion to try the men’s cases together.
A new date for the consolidated trial has not yet been set.
