A new Gosnell hires Jack McMahon

The son of West Philadelphia abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell didn't look far to find a lawyer after his arrest last week in the alleged burglary of a neighbor's house in which he was shot and seriously wounded.

Center City criminal defense lawyer Jack McMahon, who represented Kermit Gosnell in last year's murder trial in the slayings of infants born alive during illegal late-term abortions, on Wednesday entered his appearance as attorney for Barron Alexander, 22.

McMahon could not be reached for comment but in the past has sympathized with the plight of the children of the notorious owner of the Women's Medical Society clinic at 3801 Lancaster Ave. Barron Alexander Gosnell legally dropped his surname last year after he complained that the Gosnell name was preventing him from getting internships and possible jobs while studying at Cheyney University.

Alexander was arrested early on June 4 while allegedly burglarizing a house two doors away from the house he shared with his mother and younger sister in the 3700 block of Brandywine Street. Alexander was shot three times by one of the occupants of the house after he allegedly brandished a bayonet. He is charged with burglary and theft counts as well as simple assault and reckless endangerment.

Alexander is being held in the Philadelphia prison system on $75,000 bail and is set for a preliminary hearing in Municipal Count on June 20.

Kermit Gosnell is serving three consecutive life terms for his convictions on murder and a concurrent federal sentence after pleading guilty to selling prescriptions for highly additive narcotic painkillers.