North Philly man, 29, sentenced to life for murdering 2 teens
Zaiee Talbert was convicted of killing cousins Jonathan Stokley and Dexter Bowie over a drug-territory dispute.
A 29-YEAR-OLD man was sentenced yesterday to a mandatory term of life in prison without parole for the deaths of two teenage cousins who were gunned down in a hail of bullets three years ago as they were riding an all-terrain vehicle on a North Philly street.
"This was a brutal execution of two young, unarmed men," Assistant District Attorney Alisa Shver said at the sentencing hearing of Zaiee Talbert, of Judson Street near Diamond, in North Philadelphia.
On March 12, 2012, Talbert and another man, Lloyd Christopher Butler, were in a van as they pursued and fired a barrage of bullets from an AK-47 rifle and a 9mm handgun at cousins Jonathan Stokley, 18, who was driving an ATV and passenger Dexter Bowie, 17, Shver said after the hearing.
According to witnesses, after the ATV crashed on 9th Street near Birch, a gunman stood over Bowie, shooting repeatedly. The other gunman followed Stokley as he tried to crawl under a parked van on the street, Shver said.
"It was not entirely clear who held what gun," Shver said, but one witness said Talbert was armed with the AK-47.
The defendants had a beef with the victims over drug territory in North Philly, the prosecutor said.
Common Pleas Judge Barbara McDermott told the victims' family members in court: "I do believe a life sentence is what it is. He will die in prison," she said of Talbert.
At a first trial that ended in February 2014, a jury deadlocked on charges against Talbert. It convicted Butler of two counts of first-degree murder and possession of an instrument of crime. Butler, 34, is serving a sentence of life in prison without parole.
At a November retrial, another jury convicted Talbert of two counts of first-degree murder and conspiracy. It acquitted him of possession of an instrument of crime.
Talbert faces another trial Wednesday on charges of gun and drug possession and fleeing from police. On April 13, 2012, he allegedly fled from Highway Patrol officers who were trying to stop him for an alleged traffic violation. He allegedly crashed on Tioga Street near 6th in North Philly, then fled on foot.