Woman Who Bought Gun In Bristol Twp. Sent To State Prison

Demia Burell-Brinkley. Credit: Bucks County District Attorney’s Office

A Delaware County woman was sentenced last week to state prison for her role in a straw purchase scheme that ended up with a used in a Philadelphia homicide.

Demia Burell-Brinkley, 31, of Lansdowne, pleaded guilty in March to multiple felony charges related to illegally buying four firearms in Bucks and Montgomery counties between July 2020 and May 2022.

Bucks County Common Pleas Judge Jeffrey Finley handed down the sentence of eight to 20 years behind bars to the 31-year-old woman last week. He also ordered Burrell-Brinkley not to possess any firearms or ammunition in the future.

Investigators found that Burrell-Brinkley purchased the firearms on three separate occasions and sold them for $200 each, authorities said.

On July 28, 2020, she bought a Smith and Wesson .40 caliber firearm at a gun store in Montgomery County, police said.

Twenty-four days later, Philadelphia police responded to a fatal shooting on the 1300 block of North 10th Street, and a cartridge casing recovered at the scene was later matched through ballistics testing to the Smith and Wesson firearm purchased by Burrell-Brinkley.

Authorities said the two people found in possession of the gun were legally prohibited from owning firearms.

Further investigation revealed that on Feb. 6, 2021, Burrell-Brinkley purchased two Glock firearms from Auger Precision Firearms in Bristol Township.

Both of these firearms were later recovered in Philadelphia from individuals also barred from possessing them, and one of the Glock firearms was linked to a separate shooting incident, police said.

The fourth firearm involved in the scheme was purchased on May 18, 2022, from a gun store in Norristown in Montgomery County, and has not yet been recovered.

Investigators said they determined that Burrell-Brinkley never reported any of the purchased firearms as stolen.

The case was investigated by the Bucks County Detectives, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the Philadelphia Police Department.

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