Second arrest made in 2020 Chester shooting death
CHESTER » Police have made a second arrest in the August 2020 shooting death of Michael Robert McCracken.
Derwin Bradley, 22, of the 900 block of West Ninth Street in Chester, was arraigned before Magisterial District Judge Leon Hunter Tuesday on charges including criminal homicide, murder in the first, second and third degree, robbery, theft, conspiracy and firearms offenses, according to online court documents. He is being held at the county jail in Concord without bail.
Another suspect, Jaahir Davonne Johns, 20, was previously taken into custody Nov. 5 by members of the U.S. Marshal’s Fugitive Task Force on similar charges. He was last scheduled for a preliminary hearing before Magisterial District Judge David Lang on Feb. 11, according to online court documents.
Police were dispatched to the area of 10th and Lloyd streets about 6 p.m. Aug. 4 for a report of shots fired, according to an affidavit of probable cause for Bradley’s arrest written by Chester Police Sgt. Lawrence Patterson.
Upon arriving, officers found McCracken suffering from gunshot wounds in the alley behind the 900 block of Lloyd Street, according to the affidavit. McCracken was transported to Crozer-Chester Medical Center for further treatment, but was pronounced dead at 6:35 p.m.
Detectives spoke to a witness in the area who said they saw a man wearing a white undershirt and jean shorts exit the driver’s seat of a gray SUV and fire multiple gunshots at an unknown target before getting back into the vehicle and driving south down the alley toward Ninth Street, according to the affidavit.
Surveillance video from the alley also showed a gray SUV fleeing after seven shots are heard, according to the affidavit. That same vehicle – an Acura MDX – was recovered about 10:54 p.m. after police received a call that it was blocking a driveway on the 1200 block of West Seventh Street, the affidavit says.
Investigators were able to lift latent fingerprints matching Jones from the front driver-side door and McCracken from the rear passenger-side door, according to the affidavit.
Patterson writes that he spoke with a person Sept. 17th who claimed to have been with McCracken that night and said they were the victim of a robbery inside the SUV.
The victim allegedly told Patterson that they went with McCracken to Chester that night to buy firearms and got into a gray Acura SUV with two other men near Pennell and Ninth streets. The victim identified Johns as the driver and Bradley as the passenger from photo arrays, according to the affidavit.
The victim relayed that Johns said there were too many cameras, so they drove around the corner into the alley, where Bradley threatened the victim with a firearm and demanded $2,000, the affidavit says.
McCracken jumped out of the car and ran, but was cut down by Johns, the victim told Patterson. The victim said they attempted to leave the vehicle but was unable to, according to the affidavit. Bradley continued to threaten the victim and took the $2,000 before ordering the victim out of the car, the affidavit says. Once free, the victim ran to McCracken and used his cell phone to call police, according to the affidavit.
Online court documents did not show a preliminary hearing date had been scheduled for Bradley by late Tuesday.
Upon arriving, officers found McCracken suffering from gunshot wounds in the alley behind the 900 block of Lloyd Street, according to the affidavit. McCracken was transported to CrozerChester Medical Center for further treatment, but was pronounced dead at 6:35 p.m.