Bench trial held in Chester attempted murder in 2001
Common Pleas Court Judge Richard M. Cappelli heard testimony in a bench trial for a former Delaware death row inmate accused of attempted murder in a 2001 Chester shooting.
Chauncy Starling, 49, of Wilmington, is accused of shooting Alfred Gaines on April 7, 2001, in the area of Second and Flower streets. Gaines later served as a key witness in convicting Starling for the March 9, 2001, shooting deaths of Damon J. “DJ” Gist Jr., 5, and Darnell Evans, 28, at the Made 4 Men barbershop in Wilmington.
Procedural history
Starling was convicted on two counts of first-degree murder for the deaths of Gist and Evans, for which he was sentenced to death in 2004. He appealed and the death sentence was vacated, but later reinstated by the Delaware Superior Court in 2005.
The Delaware Supreme Court granted Starling a retrial in 2015, which was expected to begin in May 2017. Starling instead entered a “no contest” plea to second-degree murder and was resentenced to 18 years in prison in March 2017, with time served.
Starling was transferred to Delaware County in June 2017 for the Gaines shooting under the Interstate Agreement on Detainers Act and was granted unsecured bail of $20,000 in October 2017 by Delaware County Court of Common Pleas Judge Barry Dozor.
There were some legal questions as to whether too much time had passed for Pennsylvania to bring attempted murder charges, which were finally fully resolved in 2021. Defense attorney Scott Galloway was appointed to the case that same year.
‘He shot me in my face’
Gaines testified Thursday that he had received a call from Starling on April 7, 2001, asking him to come pick up Starling so they could go to a strip club in Chester.
Gaines told Assistant District Attorney Brian Denk that he drove his rented Toyota 4Runner to Gaines’ home in Wilmington, then met with two other men: Matthew Minor and Richard Frink.
Starling rode with Minor in his Dodge Intrepid, while Frink rode to Chester with Gaines in the 4Runner. Gaines said they took Interstate 95 to the Kerlin Street exit in the city.
At one point, the other three men said they had to see a girl and went into a house, according to Gaines. They came out after a few minutes and got back into the cars, then resumed driving around Chester.
Gaines said Frink was next to him speaking on a cellphone with Minor, who was still driving the Intrepid in front of him. Frink said something into the phone to the effect of, “OK, here, we can do it right here,” and Minor pulled the Intrepid over in a dark area, according to Gaines.
Gaines said he asked where the club was and what was going on, but got no response. He was facing Minor and Frink, who he said were just starring at him. Both simultaneously moved as though something was coming from behind Gaines, so he turned to see what it was.
“When I turned, Chauncy came around the side of the 4Runner with a gun, and then he shot me in my face,” Gaines said.
He felt a second hit in his neck, which he said felt like someone had hit him with a baseball bat. The was the second bullet going into the back of his neck, chipping part of his spine.
Gaines said he fell to ground, still conscious, and heard three car doors close in unison and a car pull off.
He remembered waking up in the hospital without an eye and a plate in his head. Gaines said he had been in a coma for three days and was in the hospital for 10.
Gaines was informed at the hospital that he was being charged with possession of cocaine with intent to deliver due to narcotics found in his clothes, but denied the cocaine was his and those charges were eventually dropped.
He initially told investigators he did not know why Starling had shot him, but later did acknowledge knowing that Starling and Frink were involved in the March 10 killings — and, more importantly, that both men knew that he knew.
Delaware County Criminal Investigation Division Detective William Murphy had been a Chester patrol officer at the time and said he was the first to arrive on the scene of Gaines’ shooting.
Murphy was told the shooting was at Second and Flower streets, but actually found the crime scene closer to Front Street. He initially thought Gaines was dead, suffering apparent gunshot wounds to the head. The 4Runner was still running with a door open and Tupac blaring at full volume, Murphy said.
After turning the radio down, Murphy said he saw Gaines was not only still alive, but actually trying to crawl away. He radioed for an ambulance and told them to expedite. Gaines was quickly whisked away to a hospital.
Murphy also went through crime scene photos with Denk, which included shots of the only two bullet casings found there.
Self-defense
Cappelli also heard from Minor, the only defense witness, who said he could not remember everything that happened
that night, but did recall getting a call at some point while they were driving through Chester from “Pete Rock” informing him that Gaines had robbed and shot another man named “L.B.” the night before.
Minor said he was “disturbed” by this revelation and told Starling, who was friends with L.B., then called Frink to let him know he was pulling over.
Minor said Starling exited the Intrepid and got into an argument with Gaines. Minor said he got out of the car after hearing the argument, but could not recall if Gaines’ radio was on. He said he then saw Gaines pull out a firearm and fire twice at Starling, missing him both times. Starling then produced his own gun and fired back at Gaines, according to Minor.
Minor said he did not know what became of Gaines’ gun. No firearm was recovered at the scene. Minor said after the shooting that he called 911 and reported the location as Second and Flower Streets, then he and the others got into the Dodge and fled the scene.
Minor was found not guilty of attempted murder in the Gaines shooting following a 2001 jury trial, but was sentenced to eightand-a-half to 16 years in a state correctional institution in 2002 for aggravated assault.
Frink pleaded guilty in May 2004 to two counts of criminally negligent homicide and one count of first degree conspiracy in the Wilmington shooting for which Starling was originally sentenced. He also pleaded guilty to conspiracy in the Gaines shooting and was sentenced to four-and-ahalf to 10 years in prison in 2005, running concurrent with his Delaware sentence.
Wrapping up
Galloway argued at close that Gaines’ testimony could not be trusted because he had at one point said he was shot three times when there were only two casings found at the scene, and that he had given differing accounts of his employment.
Galloway conjectured that Gaines was in fact only employed as a drug dealer at the time and that the cocaine was actually his. He argued that Minor’s recollection of events should be given more weight.
But Denk said Minor’s account was “absolutely ridiculous.” No other gun was ever recovered, or other shell casings, he noted, and there was no evidence at the scene that it was a multiple-gun shooting.
It was much more likely that Starling and Frink — cognizant of Gaines’ knowledge about the March shooting — lured him to Chester and searched for a darkened, abandoned street where they could silence him, Denk said.
The attorneys also reached two stipulations that Starling did not have a license to carry a firearm in April 2001 and that Gaines required life-saving medical intervention after the shooting.
Judge Cappelli said he would take the case under advisement. He did not provide a date when he would issue a ruling.