Philadelphia man found guilty in 2021 shooting deaths of woman and her mother
Byron McDonald, 30, was found guilty of the shooting deaths of Tamara Aikens, 50, and her daughter Morgan Braxton, 25.
A 30-year-old man was found guilty by a Philadelphia Common Pleas Court jury Wednesday of two counts of third-degree murder for the 2021 shooting deaths of the mother and grandmother of his then-3-year-old son, court records show.
Byron McDonald was arrested on April 12, 2021, at the Aloft Hotel near Philadelphia International Airport after an Amber Alert was issued for his son, who was found unharmed with McDonald at the hotel.
Prosecutors said McDonald on April 9, 2021, drove past the home of 50-year-old Tamara Aikens, the grandmother of his son, and fatally shot her in front of her house on the 2500 block of North Bancroft Street in North Philadelphia.
McDonald was driving a red Chevrolet Malibu registered to 25-year-old Morgan Braxton, the mother of his son.
Two days later, a missing person’s report was filed with police for Braxton. The next day, April 12, a relative contacted police fearing for Braxton’s safety because of her relationship with McDonald, prosecutors said.
Police went to the home on the 4200 block of North Eighth Street in Hunting Park where Braxton lived with McDonald and the child and found Braxton fatally wounded from gunshots to the head.
Pennsylvania State Police then issued an Amber Alert for the boy. Braxton’s car was found at the hotel, where McDonald was arrested and the boy was found safe.
“We’re very pleased with the verdict secured by Homicide [Assistant District Attorney] Jeffrey Hojnowski,” Jane Roh, spokesperson for the District Attorney’s Office, said in an email.