Second Suspect Charged In Triple Shooting That Left Two Men Dead

Eric Dillard Jr., who is already incarcerated, learned Monday he could be spending a lot more time behind bars.

A warrant on multiple counts of criminal homicide, conspiracy, robbery and related offenses were filed Monday for Dillard, 26.

Dillard is the third suspect identified and the second charged in connection with a Bristol Township triple shooting that left Joshua Johnson, 29, and Tyrone Moss, 31, dead in July 2014. Suspect Demetrius Baker, 29, of Philadelphia, was charged in January with the homicide and the third suspect, Anthony King, was fatally shot while driving in Philadelphia a few weeks after the murder.

Dillard, according to officials from the Bucks County District Attorney’s Office, is currently imprisoned at the State Correctional Institute – Greene on unrelated charges. He will be arraigned via video but that had not come as of Monday evening.

According to court papers, Baker, Dillard and King all met in Philadelphia on July 7, hours before the early-morning July 8 shooting. They intended to commit a robbery and theft at 913 Winder Drive.

The lone survivor of the triple shooting, 26-year-old Lamel Duffy, told police he was playing video games with Moss and wheelchair-bound Johnson in the living room early July 8 when three masked men burst in around 12:30 a.m. Johnson was pulled from his wheelchair and Duffy was forced to the ground. The suspects tied the three mens’ hands with zip ties. At the end of the robbery, one of the suspects walked in and stated, “it’s flat line time.” The three men were then shot by the suspects, but Duffy escaped and alerted a neighbor. Inside 913 Winder Drive, Moss and Johnson lay suffering from their fatal wounds. Moss was pronounced dead by the time medics arrived and Johnson, known as “Gang” by his friends, died a few days after the shooting.

King told investigators after the murders that he formerly lived in Bristol Township and knew the habits of the men who lived at 913 Winder Drive. He also stated he knew there were valuables inside the home. About two weeks after speaking with detectives, King was fatally shot while driving in Philadelphia. He lost control of the car he was driving during the shooting and crashed into a building in Philadelphia, causing it to collapse onto his vehicle.

A confidential informant (CI #1) stepped forward and helped police learn more. The informant said Dillard told him King set up the robbery. He also said Dillard said the suspects referred to themselves by numbers.

“Dillard told CI #1 that he thought the “man in the wheelchair (victim Joshua Johnson_ was sitting on a gun, so they had to take care of him first. Dillard stated that they knocked him out. Dillard talked to the CI #1 about how [the suspects] shot all the victims,” according to an affidavit of probable cause filed by Bristol Township Detective Michael Slaughter.

Several other pieces of information put forward by the informant matched up with evidence uncovered by investigators, police said.

A .40 caliber pistol reportedly used in the shooting was recovered in Philadelphia hours after the murder in the back of an illegally parked Lexus in Philadelphia. The firearm was found in the back seat of the Lexus and secured into evidence by city cops, police said.

Philadelphia police and Pennsylvania State Police analyzed the handgun and found out that is matched the bullet casings recovered at the Winder Drive shooting scene, authorities said.

According to court papers, cellphone data was used to track devices belonging to Baker, Dillard and King as they came up I-95 in Philadelphia to Winder Drive in Bristol Township around the time of the shooting. Cellphone data also shows the phones traveling back to Philadelphia after the murder. Bucks County Detectives worked with the Pennsylvania National Guard to obtain the data to track the cellphone around the time of the shooting.

Baker admitted during an interview with police that he drove with two men to 913 Winder Drive and was involved in the robbery. He also fessed up to stealing cash and marijuana, police said.

The robbers took a video game console, clothes, sneakers, a piggy bank, a revolver-style handgun and a wrist watch, court papers filed at the time of Baker’s arrest stated.

Bucks County District Attorney David Heckler earlier this year praised the work of Bristol Township detectives, the Bucks County Detectives and his prosecutors in solving the fatal shooting.

A preliminary hearing for Baker is scheduled for next month. As Dillard was not arraigned as of Monday afternoon, no preliminarily hearing date was set yet for him.