Teen held for trial in double homicide in Chester
CHESTER » A 15-year-old boy charged as an adult in a double homicide in February was held for trial on all charges following a preliminary hearing before Magisterial District Judge Walter A. Strohl last week.
Namai Sincere Melvin, 15, of the 2600 block of Curran Street, is charged with two counts each of criminal homicide, murder in the first, second and third degree, robbery and theft, as well as firearms offenses and conspiracy for the Feb. 1 shooting deaths of 19-year-old Kwann Henderson and 20-year-old Rasheen Jones, both of Philadelphia. Jones performed under the stage name RunUp Rico.
Chester Police Officer Robert Shaughnessy testified that he was called to the area of Third and Pennell streets about 7:23 p.m. for a report of a shooting. Upon arriving less than a minute later, Shaughnessy said he found a crowd of about 20 to 30 people near a silver Chevrolet Impala that appeared to have crashed into a building on the 1100 block of West Third Street.
Shaughnessy told Assistant District Attorney Christopher DiRosato that two men were found partially or fully out of the driver’s side door of the Impala: Henderson and Jones. Jones, still lying somewhat in the vehicle, had no pulse and Henderson, who had made it completely out, was lying unconscious on the ground with a faint pulse, he said.
According to testimony from Delaware County Detective Timothy Deery, Namai and another man identified as James Williams met with the victims shortly before the shooting, as documented by surveillance videos taken inside and outside the market and from a pole camera on a nearby traffic light.
Deery narrated activity in and around the Impala, including people getting into and out of the car at various times. He identified Melvin, Williams and Jones during the hearing.
Eventually, Deery said Melvin was inside the vehicle in the rear drivers-side while Williams was outside the driver’s side window. Williams at one point reaches into the car and appears to be struggling with the driver, Deery said.
“Then you’re going to see him (Williams) reach in his pocket, and then he’s going to lift his arm up, then he runs,” said Deery.
The Impala drives a short distance before crashing into a building and then Melvin is seen running from the vehicle with a package, Deery said. Within an hour and a half of the shooting, Deery said Melvin had texted three or four people indicating he had marijuana to sell.
A similar package containing approximately a half-pound of marijuana was found on the front floorboards of the vehicle, along with a .40 caliber spent cartridge casing, Deery said. A .45 caliber cartridge casing was found on the street where the Impala had been parked and a .45 caliber projectile was found inside the car, Deery said.
Medical Examiner’s reports for both victims indicated they had died from gunshot wounds sustained from the back and that each had a .40 caliber round lodged in their hearts, Detective David Tyler said. The day before the shooting, Deery said Melvin had taken pictures of himself with a silver-and-black handgun colloquially known as a “salt-and-pepper .40,” said Deery. He did not know of that particular type of gun coming in another caliber.
On cross examination by defense attorney Brian Malloy, Deery said police had not recovered a .40 caliber weapon while serving a search warrant at Melvin’s home, but had retrieved a 9mm Desert Eagle. Deery also said there were no images of Melvin holding a firearm Feb. 1 and there was no muzzle flash visible from inside the vehicle, though Williams’ arm could be seen jerking, indicating he had fired at least once.
Williams, 19, was killed March 6, Deery said. Two others have also been charged with homicide
Medical Examiner’s reports for both victims indicated they had died from gunshot wounds sustained from the back and that each had a .40 caliber round lodged in their hearts, Detective David Tyler said. The day before the shooting, Deery said Melvin had taken pictures of himself with a silver-andblack handgun colloquially known as a “salt-andpepper .40,” said Deery. He did not know of that particular type of gun coming in another caliber.
in the case: Darren Majeed, 27, of Wilmington, Del., and 17-yearold Tracy Williams, both of whom allegedly conspired via text messages to set up a robbery of Jones the day he was murdered. Majeed remains at large.
Majeed and Tracy Williams are not depicted in any recovered video the day of the shooting, Deery said. The detective told Malloy that 22 texts had been recovered featuring the word “lick,” slang for robbery, from phones recovered in the case, but there
were no texts to Melvin about a robbery Feb. 1.
Also testifying was Melvin’s former probation officer, who identified him from still images taken from surveillance videos. She said she knew him to go by the nickname “Pop.” Tyler indicated others had also identified Melvin, including Chester Officer Marc Barag, who also knew him as “Pop.”
Melvin is scheduled for formal arraignment at the county courthouse in Media April 28.