Suspect charged in aspiring teacher's slaying

MARCELLUS JONES was pulled out of Graterford State Prison yesterday for a brief trip to Philadelphia.

He was led handcuffed into Police Headquarters where, officials said, he was charged with the murder of Beau Zabel, a 23-year-old aspiring teacher who was gunned down on June 15, 2008, near the Italian Market.

Zabel, who moved to the city from Minnesota, was walking home to his apartment after finishing a shift at a local Starbucks when he was shot and robbed of his iPod.

His senseless slaying went unsolved until earlier this year, when police received tips that led them to zero in on Jones in the wake of an Inquirer series on the Zabel case.

Tasha Jamerson, a spokeswoman for District Attorney Seth Williams, said last night that the office approved murder charges against Jones several weeks ago.

Homicide Capt. James Clark did not respond to a request for comment yesterday.

Jones, 35, was sentenced to life in prison in 2012 for killing Tyrek Taylor, his alleged accomplice in Zabel's killing, just a few months after Zabel was fatally shot.

The Inquirer reported that Jones told an acquaintance that he decided Taylor "had to go" because Taylor complained about the brutal fate that Zabel met.

Jones also allegedly told the acquaintance that he was disappointed when he realized that Zabel had been in possession of an iPod, not an iPhone.