Killer of Bucks musician gets life in prison

A Trenton man was sentenced to life in prison Monday for firing the shot that killed the guitarist Danny DeGennaro during a botched robbery at his Levittown home two years ago.

"The community has lost someone . . . in a violent, senseless" crime, Bucks County Court Judge Rea B. Boylan told Breon Powell.

Powell, 22, did not react to the sentence.

DeGennaro's daughter, Gia Pape, watched the hearing in silence. She declined to comment afterward.

Powell and four others went to DeGennaro's house a few days after Christmas 2011 with the plan of robbing him, according to trial testimony.

DeGennaro, a 56-year-old songwriter and guitarist, had been a staple in the regional music scene and had toured with rock stars. When he refused to cooperate with the robbers, Powell fired the shotgun blast that killed him.

In October, a jury in Doylestown convicted Powell and Kazair Gist, 19, of first- and second-degree murder. Gist, who fired a handgun into a wall that night, will be sentenced next week.

Jermaine Jackson, 21, of Trenton, also got a life sentence in the spring, after being convicted of organizing the fatal plan.

The two getaway drivers - Danasia Bakr, 19, and Tatyana Henderson, 19 - became key prosecution witnesses and were scheduled to be sentenced Tuesday.