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WILKES-BARRE &mdash; A gang member from Philadelphia convicted by a Luzerne County jury in the execution-style shooting of two people at a Wilkes-Barre apartment complex has filed his fourth appeal seeking a new trial or a reduction of his lengthy prison sentence.
				Tony Edwards, 33, also known as &ldquo;Hazard,&rdquo; recently appealed to the state Superior Court a decision by Luzerne County Judge David W. Lupas denying his petition under the Post Conviction Relief Act.
				A jury in September 2016 convicted Edwards on two counts of criminal attempt to commit homicide in the shooting of Sherry &ldquo;Chyna&rdquo; Rivera and Izhar Ramos-Ramirez, in a hallway at Interfaith Heights Apartments on Coal Street on April 4, 2015.
				A co-defendant in the case, Wandalee Balcacer, 30, was convicted on two counts of criminal conspiracy to commit homicide.
				Lupas on Nov. 8, 2016, sentenced Edwards to 40 to 80 years in state prison and initially sentenced Balcacer to 15 to 40 years in state prison.
				Luzerne County Assistant District Attorney Jarrett Fereninto who, along with former assistant district attorney Mamie Phillips prosecuted, said during the trial Balcacer recruited Edwards to come to Wilkes-Barre to collect a $4,000 drug debt she was owed by Rivera and Ramos-Ramirez.
				Balcacer ambushed Rivera and Ramos-Ramirez in a hallway by shoving them to the floor as Edwards shot them at point-blank range, prosecutors argued during the trial.
				Rivera and Ramos-Ramirez suffered gunshot wounds to their heads. They survived.
				Edwards was arrested when heavily-armed federal and state agents found him hiding inside a house on Stanton Street on Oct. 5, 2015. Balcacer was arrested the same day at a house in Hanover Township.
				The state Superior Court upheld Edwards&rsquo; conviction and sentence in a ruling issued July 20, 2018. The state Supreme Court refused to hear Edwards&rsquo; appeal in December 2018, resulting in Edwards filing a petition for relief, which Lupas denied May 4, 2020.
				Balcacer&rsquo;s conviction and sentence was upheld by the Superior Court in a decision issued Nov. 20, 2017. She was given a reduced sentenced of 12 to 34 years in state prison by Lupas on Sept. 26, 2019, under the Post Conviction Relief Act.

Gang member appeals attempted homicide conviction - again