Credit: Bucks County Department of Corrections
The trial for the first of five suspects alleged to have been involved in the murder of Levittown musician Danny DeGennaro is set to begin Monday in Doylestown.
Jermaine Jackson, 20, of Trenton, N.J., is facing trial on charged of of criminal homicide, possession of instrument of crimes with intent, burglary and several related offenses.
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According to court documents, the trial is set to begin Monday at 9 a.m.
Prosecutors plan to make the case that Jackson and four others were behind the Dec. 28, 2011 shooting death of DeGennaro. If found guilty by a jury of his peers, the 20-year-old could be facing life behind bars.
According to an affidavit of probable cause, the group was headed to Crabtree Drive in the Levittown section of Bristol Township to rob a “guy” who owed them money when they saw a block 2007 Volkswagen listed on sale on the road. The suspect called DeGennaro’s neighbor, Nick Wilson, who owned the car, and attempted to lure him outside in an attempt to rob him, but he asked they come back in the morning, police said. The late hour and “ghetto” sounds of the callers voice lead to him turning the caller down.
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After watching the Crabtree Drive house where DeGennaro lived with his roommate, some of the suspects busted into the home, police said. The suspects told investigators a struggle ensued and the beloved musician was shot in the stomach, according to court documents.
Two suspects sat outside the house and heard two gunshots. The three subjects then ran from the outside to the car, and the crew fled to a Trenton parking lot, police said.
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Bristol Township police arrived at 10:09 p.m. after receiving a call from the Crabtree Drive house advising that Wilson discovered his roommate with a “hole in his stomach” at the bottom of a set of stairs, court records said.
Emergency medical staff from the Levittown-Fairless Hills Rescue Squad rushed DeGennaro to St. Mary Medical Center. A doctor pronounced him dead at 10:41 p.m.
The coroner later ruled that a single gunshot wound to the chest was what killed the 56-year-old guitarist.
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After a three-month-long investigation involving law enforcement in both Pennsylvania and New Jersey, all the suspects were in custody by March 2012.
Court documents report that Kazair Gist, 19, and Breon Powell, 21, will face trial in June. The two female suspects – Tatyana Henderson, 19, of Bensalem and Danasia Bakr, 18, of Morrisville – do not yet have trial dates set.
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DeGennaro was well known throughout the area music scene. During his career, he was a member of The Danny DeGennaro Band and Kingfish, a rock group that was compared to The Grateful Dead.
A Facebook page titled “Levittown Vows Justice for Danny DeGennaro” has grown to nearly 450 likes in recent weeks and claims to be a “gathering of community to support the family and friends of Danny DeGennaro.”
