At murder trial, former inmate testifies to jailhouse confession

The two men were on the same cell block in Northampton County Jail, both facing charges that could send them away for years. They got to talking, authorities say.

One of the men, Kasheem A. Aiken, was accused of murder, for a 2017 revenge killing in which a 19-year-old Bethlehem woman was gunned down on a South Side street.

The other, Nicholas R. Pringle, was charged with attempted murder, for firing shots at a man during an unrelated altercation in Bethlehem that same year.

On Monday, Aiken was in the defense chair as his homicide trial neared completion. Pringle was a witness against him, saying Aiken confessed while they were imprisoned together in Easton in 2018.

Aiken “said he shot her,” Pringle testified. “And this came from his mouth himself.”

Aiken, 37, of Easton was charged after a lengthy investigation into the killing of Teayahe Glover, who was murdered days after she witnessed a gang-related shooting in which her boyfriend was severely wounded at a house party.

According to prosecution testimony, Aiken blamed Glover for that shooting, in which his friend, Alan Young, barely survived injuries he received from a rival for Glover’s affection. That led Aiken to plot Glover’s death by luring her out of her home and gunning her down, Pringle, 32, told a jury.

“Shorty had to get it,” Pringle said Aiken told him. “She was playing both sides of the fence, sleeping around with both dudes.”

Aiken “automatically wanted payback, you know what I’m saying,” Pringle said. “He wanted to get back, pretty much.”

Pringle took the stand on the fourth and final day of prosecution testimony, before the defense began calling witnesses. His account faced skepticism from Aiken’s attorney, Christopher Shipman, who charged Pringle lied to win favorable treatment in his own case.

At the time the two inmates allegedly spoke, Pringle was jailed on allegations he opened fire on a man in July 2017 on West North Street. But less than a month after Pringle met with authorities, Shipman said, he received a plea deal in which he admitted to a firearms offense alone, allowing him to be released after nearly a year in jail.

“Coincidentally, three weeks later, all the felonies were dropped and you pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor,” Shipman said.

Chief Deputy District Attorney William Blake said Pringle received no consideration for his cooperation, with his case handled by another prosecutor in the district attorney’s office. Pringle bristled after Shipman suggested otherwise, saying he has faced threats to his life since he came forward.

“The truth hurts. I have no reason to lie,” Pringle said, adding: “I’m not getting nothing out of this.”

Shipman noted that before Pringle identified Aiken as the shooter, he spoke to authorities twice about the case, when he suggested that others — and not Aiken — were the culprits. In one interview, Pringle named another prison inmate as the killer, and expressed concern Aiken was being falsely accused, according to testimony.

On Monday, Pringle said he overheard that other man claiming responsibility for Glover’s death. But Pringle said he later asked Aiken about that, and Aiken told him the man was lying.

“He’s taking credit for something he didn’t do,” Pringle said Aiken told him.

According to police, Aiken gunned down Glover on Feb. 8, 2017, shooting her in the face at Sioux and Sassafras streets and continuing to fire as she fell to the ground. Authorities say a codefendant of Aiken, Xavier Snyder, served as the setup man, meeting Glover outside her home and luring her to where Aiken lay in wait.

Prosecutors said it took a grand jury to crack the “wall of silence” embraced by the Crips gang, of which Aiken, Snyder, Glover and many of the trial’s witnesses were members, though sometimes of different factions, according to testimony. Authorities said that when Glover was killed, she was cooperating with police in their probe of Young’s shooting, drawing Aiken’s ire.

Snyder, now 20, testified against Aiken last week, identifying him as the gunman. Snyder did so under a plea agreement calling for him to receive a 16- to 32-year sentence on third-degree murder and conspiracy charges. Snyder cast himself as a reluctant participant in the crime, saying he felt threatened by Aiken, and didn’t know the older man had murder on his mind that morning.

Shipman argues it was Snyder who killed Glover. Shipman says Snyder, who was 17 at the time, did so to gain street credibility.

On Monday, Shipman suggested Snyder’s testimony was hard to swallow, asking police Sgt. Christopher Beebe, the case’s lead investigator, whether he believed it.

“I do,” Beebe replied.

“Do you believe that he had no idea [the killing] was going to happen?” Shipman asked.

“I do, yes,” Beebe said.

If Aiken is convicted of firstdegree murder, he would be guaranteed a sentence of life in prison without parole. The jury is expected to get the case for deliberations Tuesday.

Morning Call reporter Riley Yates can be reached at 610-2535751 or riley.yates@mcall.com.