UPDATED: Charges Filed Against Three Men In Shooting Death Of Bristol Father

UPDATED: 6:13 p.m., Tuesday: 

The mother and father of murder victim Robert “Bink” Colter III, 20, said Tuesday evening that they are relieved the three men accused in their son’s 2016 death have been charged.

“I’m not well, so I thought I wouldn’t live to see this,” Kathleen Colter said. “This really is an out-of-body experience.”

Kathleen and her husband Robert Colter II told LevittownNow.com the arrest of the three suspects will not bring their son back but it will “bring a little normalcy back to our lives.”

Robert Colter III’s twin girls are about to enter the first grade in August and know about their father. Recently, the were talking about him with their father’s 8-year-old brother.

“I talked to [the girls’] mother right away,” Kathleen said of finding out about the charges being filed.

The local couple said they appreciate the support from the community, police, and district attorney’s office over the past two years. They added that authorities have been very upfront with them over the court of the two-year investigation.

“One thing I want to say is that my son was a big believer in forgiving,” Kathleen Colter said. “I just want people to remember and move on. And we’re going to try.”

Original Story: 

The three men accused of gunning down a young father in a reckless display of violence on the streets of Bristol Borough were formally charged Tuesday after a two-year investigation by local police and Bucks County Detectives.

Rodney “Bay-Bay” Beaty, 27; Dwayne J. Lynch, 29; and Jaquan Nyzier “Dill” Wilkerson, 19, were charged with two counts of criminal homicide and three counts of reckless endangerment. Lynch and Wilkerson also face additional charges of possession of an instrument of crime and possession of an instrument of crime by a minor.

The three men charged by investigators Tuesday all have previously lived in Bristol or Levittown, according to unrelated court records that are on file.

Robert “Bink” Colter III, 20, was struck down by bullets outside of his home on Bath Street near Mifflin Street around 8 p.m. on February 16, 2016. A bullet to the head ended up killing the father of twin girls, both of whom were very young at the time.

When the dispatch went out, police had information that the shooters ran from the scene to a waiting red car. Responding officers found spent 9mm and .40 caliber casings in the area.

Over the course of the past two years, the investigators began to focus on Beaty, Lynch, and Wilkerson, even tracking Lynch and Wilkerson’s cell phones to Bristol around the time of the shooting, police said.

In early June, a Bucks County Detective spoke with Beaty about the shooting and he offered up key information that led to charges being filed Tuesday.

Beaty reportedly told police the three men were driving through Bristol in Lynch’s red Chevrolet when they spotted a vehicle belonging to the girlfriend of a rival parked near Colter’s home on Bath Street. On Swain Street, Lynch parked and directed Wilkerson, who was then 17 years old, to grab a gun from a backpack. Lynch and Wilkerson exited the Chevrolet and headed to the intersection of Bath and Mifflin streets, where they opened fire toward Colter’s home with the 9mm and .40 caliber handguns.

A magazine from the .40 caliber pistol fell onto the roadway at the scene of the shooting, police said.

Lynch and Wilkerson allegedly told Beaty they saw a person fall after multiple shots were fired at Colter’s home.

According to court papers, Beaty relayed that he drove the Chevrolet after the two got back to the car and moved to another vehicle before heading on I-95 south. While driving toward Philadelphia, they pulled over and threw the .40 caliber pistol out of the vehicle.

Police said the three then drove to Love Park in Philadelphia before heading back to Bucks County.

Using cell phone records, investigators determined Lynch’s cell phone was in use during the trip following the shooting. The information matched up with the story given to the detective, police said.

In addition to the spent bullet casings recovered at the scene, police found fired cartridge casings from the 9mm handgun used in the crime during an unrelated search warrant execution in Philadelphia in April.

Colter’s father spoke with LevittownNow.com months after the shooting and said he wanted justice for his son’s death.

“This crime was truly heinous,” he said at the time.

The three men still have to be arraigned in the homicide case but are in custody.

“All three suspects are incarcerated for other offenses: Beaty in the Bucks County Correctional Facility, Lynch in the Federal Detention Center in Philadelphia, and Wilkerson in the State Correctional Institution at Camp Hill,” according to the Bucks County District Attorney’s Office.

Editor’s Note: All individuals arrested or charged with a crime are presumed innocent until proven guilty. The story was compiled using information from police and public court documents.