2 get decades of state time in Chester killing
MEDIA COURTHOUSE » Two Chester men were each sentenced to 22½ to 55 years in state prison Tuesday after pleading guilty for their roles in the November 2019 shooting death of 21-year-old Ahmaad J. Boston.
Tyson R. Vest, 25, and William A. Sadler, 24, both of the 800 block of East 16th Street in Chester, entered negotiated guilty pleas to third-degree murder, conspiracy and firearms charges in exchange for having all other charges, including first-degree murder withdrawn, Deputy District Attorney Matthew Krouse told Common Pleas Court Judge Richard M. Cappelli.
A third defendant and Sadler’s cousin, Dajuan Sadler, 32, of the 200 block of Green Street in Marcus Hook, had already pleaded guilty to third-degree murder and hindering apprehension in September 2020.
He is scheduled for sentencing before Cappelli next week.
Shootings beget shootings
Affidavits of probable cause for the three defendants written by Chester Detective Victor Heness described the Nov. 3, 2019, shooting at New York Fried Chicken and Grill Restaurant on the 3100 block of West Ninth Street as a possible retaliation for the June 7, 2017, shooting death of Darnell Sadler, which in turn is thought to have a connection with the shooting death of Boston’s brother, Jashaad Boston, on Jan. 4, 2017.
Police were called to the restaurant about 5:09 p.m. for a report of a shooting victim inside. Responding officers discovered Boston slumped over in a sitting position by the door to the kitchen with blood coming from his mouth and gunshot wounds to his
torso.
Boston was unconscious and unresponsive when officers arrived. Medics from Crozer-Chester Medical Center transported him to the hospital, where he later succumbed to his injuries. His death was ruled a homicide caused by multiple gunshot wounds.
Two gunmen
Witnesses reported seeing two men wearing ski masks firing from the parking lot into the restaurant before fleeing east on Ninth Street in a gray sedan.
Crime scene investigator William Swanson found 21 spent 9 mm shell casings in the parking lot and sidewalk in front of 3103 W. Ninth St., as well as one more casing, two projectile fragments and one projectile in front of 3107 W. Ninth St.
Krouse said Tuesday that video surveillance inside the restaurant showed Boston on his phone as the shooting started.
He attempted to retrieve his own firearm before collapsing to the ground, Krouse said. The affidavits indicated a witness had moved a handgun from between Boston’s legs with a foot as a precaution, which investigators processing the scene retrieved.
Detectives also reviewed surveillance footage from the area and observed a gray 1990s-style Chevrolet Lumina heading east on Ninth Street before turning north onto Grace Street, as one witness had described.
A database search of registered vehicles matching
that description within a 10mile radius turned up a 1991 Chevrolet Lumina registered to William Sadler.
Detectives indicated that they were familiar with an on-going dispute between the Sadler and Boston families stemming from multiple shootings and homicides since January 2017.
Tracking the suspects
Video surveillance taken near Vest’s and Sadler’s address on the 800 block of East 16th Street showed the Lumina parking on the 800 block of Glen Terrace at 5:12 p.m. and three men exiting before walking to the 16th Street property. Heness and Detective David J. Defrank identified the three men as Vest and the Sadler cousins.
Detectives from Chester and the county Criminal Investigation Division found all three men inside the 16th Street property when they executed a search warrant there Nov. 7, 2019, according to the affidavit.
Located in a drop-ceiling tile was a .45 caliber handgun, which Vest told detectives was his. That weapon was later determined to have been reported stolen out of Chester, Krouse said. Vest on Tuesday pleaded to one count of receiving stolen property related to that gun.
Investigators also found a 9 mm Taurus handgun with 16 live rounds in a backpack in the back yard. County Detective Louis Grandizio, a firearms expert, matched at least four shell casings found at the murder scene to the Taurus through microscopic
comparisons.
Admission of guilt
Heness and county Detective Daniel McFarland spoke to Dajuan Sadler in a recorded interview at the Chester Police Department on Nov. 7, 2019.
He told detectives he had been driving the Lumina through the parking lot of the Family Dollar on the 3100 block of West Ninth Street Nov. 3 with Vest and his cousin when the other two men suddenly told him to stop. William Sadler and Vest got out of the car and walked toward the strip of stores, Sadler said.
“After approximately one minute, Dajuan heard numerous gunshots being fired from the direction of where he last saw Tyson and William walking,” according to the affidavit. “After the initial shots stop, Dajuan sees William running back towards the vehicle with a gun in his hand. Dajuan then hears more gun shots and then observed Tyson running towards the vehicle with a gun in his hand.”
Sadler said the two men got into the car and told him to drive away from the area. He said he drove directly to the 16th Street residence and parked on the 800 block of Glen Terrace, where detectives later recovered the Lumina for processing.
Once inside, Dajuan Sadler said Vest and his cousin told him the family can “rest easy” now, according to the affidavit. When he asked why, they told him, “We got the … that killed baby brother.”
Sadler said he understood that meant one of the Boston brothers had been shot in retaliation for the 2017 death of Darnell Sadler.
Vest and William Sadler were taken into custody Dec. 16, 2019, at Chester District Court, where they were appearing on another criminal matter. Dajuan Sadler was already incarcerated at that time and a detainer was lodged against him in the murder case.
Bad decisions
Defense attorneys Michael Malloy, representing Vest, and Elliot Cohen, representing William Sadler, said both of their clients appeared in all of their interactions to be gentlemen who had made bad decisions. Malloy described Vest’s actions as “an aberration.”
Vest did not comment, but William Sadler apologized to the victim’s family. Krouse said he had been in touch with Boston’s family who were aware of the pleas but chose not to speak at Tuesday’s hearings.
In addition to prison time, both men were ordered to attend anger management classes and trauma therapy, to become involved in vocational training and to forfeit the firearms.
They were also ordered to provide DNA samples to state police and have no contact with the victim’s family.
Neither defendant is eligible for early release, but were given credit for time served back to their arrest dates.