Man off to jail for good for 2008 murder, assault

As far as sentencing hearings go, the one for Tyree Bass went quickly yesterday.

He chose not to speak, and a letter was submitted from a relative of his victims.

Then, Common Pleas Judge Carolyn Engel Temin sentenced Bass, 25, to life in prison without parole, plus an additional 35 1/2-to-75 years for murdering a pregnant woman and injuring her unborn child and the woman's boyfriend on Jan. 31, 2008.

Bass, of Adams Avenue near Penn Street in Frankford, was convicted by a jury last month of second-degree murder, attempted murder, aggravated assault on an unborn child, conspiracy to commit arson and possession of an instrument of crime.

Shortly after 1 a.m., as seven-months pregnant Emine Hajredinaj, 20, and her boyfriend Kevin Cook, 20, sat in a car outside their brick duplex home on Griscom Street in Frankford, Bass ambushed them.

He shot Hajredinaj in the back and shot Cook in the arm, shoulder and chest. Cook survived.

Although doctors were unable to save Hajredinaj, they delivered the couple's baby girl by Caesarean section. The trauma of the attack has left the child with major physical disabilities, authorities said at the time.

The attack stemmed from Bass seeking to collect a debt from a relative of Hajredinaj's who lived in the Griscom Street home. Bass went to the home with the intention of firebombing it, according to the District Attorney's Office.

Once there, he shot the couple, who were not his intended targets, police have said.

Bass' prison sentence will permanently retire him from a life of crime. In addition to several drug arrests, Bass was sentenced to 11-to-23 months in prison for a 2003 high-speed car crash, the result of him running from the law. During the pursuit, Bass blew a red light and crashed into another car, breaking the driver's jaw.