Sentencing testimony set to end Monday in racially tinged killings

Testimony is expected to conclude Monday in the death-penalty hearing for two Tacony men found guilty of first-degree murder in a racially tinged 2007 double shooting.

The fourth day of the hearing in Common Pleas Court ended Friday with testimony from a forensic psychologist about Robert McDowell, 28; his personal history; and why jurors should sentence him to life in prison without parole rather than death by lethal injection.

In December, the jury convicted McDowell and Gerald Drummond, 26, in the killings of Damien Holloway, 27, and Timmy Clark, 15, each shot in the head execution-style in the 6900 block of Vandike Street on July 13, 2007.

Steven Samuel, a Philadelphia psychologist hired by McDowell's lawyers, told the jury that McDowell was primed for drugs and violence by a mother who gave him no guidance, a drug-addicted father who was murdered when he was 14, and a stepfather who beat and humiliated him.

Nevertheless, Samuel testified, his interviews and testing of McDowell showed "he is motivated to change himself" and would not pose a threat to prison staff if the jury sentenced him to life.

Earlier Friday, Drummond ended his part in the hearing by deciding not to testify and ask the jury to spare him.

McDowell will have to make that decision by the time the trial resumes Monday and defense attorney Gary Server presents his last witnesses.

Server, however, told Judge Renee Cardwell Hughes that McDowell was unlikely to take the stand.

Neither man testified during the trial, which ended Dec. 20.

Testifying could give the defendants a chance to demonstrate their humanity and provide a jury that has convicted them with a reason to be merciful.

But it would also expose them - both have records of drug use and criminal convictions - to grilling from a veteran homicide prosecutor who could elicit information that might persuade the jury to condemn them to death.

According to trial witnesses, Drummond had a grudge against Holloway because of race - Drummond and McDowell are white; Holloway was black - and because Holloway had separated from Drummond's sister, with whom he had a disabled child.

The pair spotted Holloway and Clark about 2:20 a.m. as they walked to Clark's home from a convenience store. Clark, who was white, worked in Holloway's lawn-cutting business, and Holloway was living with Clark's family.

The prosecution said Drummond ordered Holloway and Clark to kneel, hands behind their heads, and told McDowell to shoot them. When McDowell said he could not do it, Drummond took the revolver and shot each in the head.

A gun was never found, and no blood or DNA incriminated Drummond or McDowell. Instead, the prosecution brought in a series of friends and associates of the pair, who said they had described the shootings in detail.