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Man, teen held for trial in ambush slaying in Swampoodle

At a hearing not even a month after Jayvon Mitchell-Pendleton died in the North Philadelphia enclave of Swampoodle, his mother told the City Council her son had wanted to leave behind the street violence that marked his neighborhood.

CORRECTION: The original version of this story erred in describing Jayvon Mitchell-Pendleton, the 20-year-old man shot to death March 2 in the Swampoodle neighborhood, as an aspiring college student. Mitchell-Pendleton had been taking classes at Cheyney University since 2014.

At a hearing not even a month after Jayvon Mitchell-Pendleton died in the North Philadelphia enclave of Swampoodle, his mother told the City Council her son had wanted to leave behind the street violence that marked his neighborhood.

The street had other plans for Felicia Pendleton's 20-year-old son, who was shot to death shortly after 6:30 p.m. on March 2 as he and another 20-year-old man walked in the 2700 block of North Bonsall Street.

On Wednesday, 21-year-old Khalil Davenport and the alleged 16-year-old gunman, Nasir McNamee, were held for trial on murder, conspiracy, and related charges in what the prosecutor called a targeted shooting rooted in a long-simmering feud among young men in that neighborhood.

The hostility almost boiled over into a courtroom fistfight when a relative of one of the defendants made a remark to Mitchell-Pendleton's family and they leaped to their feet and lunged across the room.

Detectives, police, and courtroom deputies moved in to separate the sides and Philadelphia Municipal Court Judge James M. DeLeon ordered them escorted outside. No one was injured or arrested.

At Wednesday's preliminary hearing, witness John Blocker testified about watching two men - Mitchell-Pendleton and his unidentified friend - walk by his front porch.

As the pair neared the intersection with Somerset Street, Blocker said he saw two other males come from Somerset to the other side of Bonsall. He said one of those males tapped the other on the shoulder and pointed to Mitchell-Pendleton and his friend and the other pulled out a pistol and started firing.

His friend ducked to the ground, but Mitchell-Pendleton was hit three times, including in the back of the head.

The defense lawyers - James A. Lammendola for Davenport and James F. Berardinelli for McNamee - condemned what they said was a lack of evidence against the pair and urged DeLeon to dismiss the charges.

Lammendola argued that a variety of fired bullet casings were found at the scene - 11 9mm shells and two .32-caliber casings - and that a .38-caliber slug was recovered from the victim.

Lammendola also noted that Blocker failed to identify either male in live lineups or from photo arrays. In court Wednesday, Blocker identified McNamee as the gunman but appeared to have difficulty identifying Davenport.

DeLeon, however, noted that Davenport partly incriminated himself by confirming for detectives that he was one of two males seen in a surveillance video from a business at 24th and Somerset Streets. The video shows the pair walk down the street and pause in the far distance, followed by what appear to be "muzzle flashes" from a gun.

Although their faces are not visible in the video, Homicide Detective John Verrecchio said Davenport was brought in for questioning in several unrelated crimes and shown the video. One of the males wore the distinctive sneakers that Davenport was wearing in the interview.

"He said it was him and he said he didn't do it," Verrecchio testified.

Assistant District Attorney Louis Tumolo argued that there was enough evidence to hold both for trial.

jslobodzian@phillynews.com

215-854-2985@joeslobo

www.philly.com/crimeandpunishment