Trial for Gunmen to Begin


Credit: Bucks County Department of Corrections
Credit: Bucks County Department of Corrections

The trial for two of the suspects accused of involvement in the murder of popular Levittown resident Danny DeGennaro are set to start this week.

Breon Powell, 21, and Kazair Gist, 19, both Trenton, N.J., both charged with homicide, burglary and numerous other offenses, have both been in county jail on $5 million bail since last spring.

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According to court dockets, the first stages of the trial will begin Tuesday at 9 a.m. before Judge Rea Boylan.

Powell is represented by Doylestown attorney Keith J. Williams and Gist is represented by Newark, N.J.-based lawyer Alan D. Bowman, court documents show.

The trial was previously delayed in June in an effort give more time for trial preparation.

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During the trial for murder plot mastermind 20-year-old Jermaine Jackson in May, prosecutors made the case that Powell and Gist were directly the men behind the murder of DeGennaro, which began as an attempt to rob DeGennaro for a drug debt inside his Crabtree Drive home in Bristol Township.

Officials previously said Powell fired the shotgun blast to the chest that killed DeGennaro in December 2011. Gist is also accused of shooting a handgun and missing the popular musician.

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Danasia Bakr, 19, and Tatyana Henderson, 19, both of the Morrisville section of Falls Township, testified that one “loud gunshot” and then another was heard. Henderson said that the three young men then ran to the waiting car and were “shaken up” and “acting crazy.” Powell was yelling how he shot “the guy” and Gist said, “I shot him too,” according to statements made by Henderson.

Trials for Bakr and Henderson, who are cooperating with officials, are forthcoming, but no dates have been set.

Jackson was found guilty and sentenced to life in prison.

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