Teens plead guilty to killing Howard Beach man

Befriended victim, then dumped his body in his basement

BY TONIA N. CIMINO

Wednesday, January 16, 2008 5:11 PM EST

Two teens have pleaded guilty to manslaughter in connection with the vicious October 2006 beating death of a Howard Beach man whom they had befriended.

The victim’s body was found two weeks after the death in his basement.

“The defendants admitted they choked and beat the victim to death in his own home before dumping his body in his basement,” said District Attorney Richard A. Brown. “With today’s guilty plea justice is served.”

Billy Ray Staton, 18, of 320 Beach 27th Street in Far Rockaway, and Alex Brown,18, of 170-08 Liberty Avenue in Jamaica, have pleaded guilty to charges of second-degree manslaughter before Queens Supreme Court Justice Arthur Cooperman, who indicated he would likely sentence the defendants to a determinate term of 23 years in prison when they are sentenced on February 27.

In pleading guilty, according to the district attorney, Staton and Brown admitted that they caused the death of John Canora, 55, by choking him and then beating him with an aluminum baseball bat and fire extinguisher before dumping his body in a drainage area in the basement of his home at 164-20 96th Street in Howard Beach. Canora’s body was not discovered until about two weeks after his death.