A man convicted of manslaughter in Rhode Island was apprehended during a traffic stop in Pennsylvania last week.
On the afternoon of January 8, Pennsylvania State Police stopped 42-year-old Plymouth resident DeShawn A. Anderson for a vehicle code violation in Edwardsville.
Troopers said Anderson was wanted in Rhode Island for violating his probation in the manslaughter case.
In anticipation of his extradition to Rhode Island, Anderson was arraigned and is currently being detained at the Luzerne County Correctional Facility.
Anderson was charged with the murder of Jonathan Zapada, whose body was discovered Oct. 12, 2016, behind apartments on Hartford Avenue in Providence. He was first charged with felony assault for hitting Zapada, but prosecutors increased the charge after it was discovered that blunt-force head and neck injuries contributed to his death.
Anderson pleaded no contest to manslaughter in 2017 and received a 17-year sentence, five and a half of which were suspended with probation.
A spokeswoman for the Rhode Island Attorney General’s Office tells 12 News Anderson was freed in late August 2020. Four years later, he was charged with a violation for failing to report to his probation officer and released on $1,000 personal recognizance, according to a spokeswoman. When Anderson failed to appear for a planned hearing in September 2024, a warrant was issued for his arrest.
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