Two get double life terms in 2007 Philly killings

Calling them "irredeemable," a Philadelphia judge on Thursday sentenced two Tacony men to consecutive life prison terms after a Common Pleas Court jury deadlocked on imposing the death penalty for the execution-style murders of a neighborhood man and his teenage friend.

The jurors deliberated about four hours before telling Judge Renee Cardwell Hughes they were deadlocked. Under Pennsylvania law, the judge then had to impose life sentences without parole on Gerald Drummond, 26, and Robert McDowell, 28, convicted of first-degree murder in the July 13, 2007, shootings of Damien Holloway, 27, and Timmy Clark, 15.

Trial witnesses described the killings as at least partly motivated by race: Drummond and McDowell are white; Holloway was black and had a child with Drummond's sister.

The jury of seven women and five men - evenly divided black and white - sat sullenly in the jury box. Some were plainly upset, and several glared at Drummond and McDowell.

As the jury exited the courtroom, McDowell smiled at Drummond, reached over, and gave him a loud slap on the back.

The judge erupted angrily. "Please don't smile and please don't think you won, gentlemen, because now you have to deal with me," she said. "You'd be better off being sentenced to death because then you'd have the Supreme Court."

Hughes sentenced each to two consecutive life terms followed by a total of 15 to 30 years for guilty verdicts on conspiracy and two gun charges. She also ordered each to pay $5,000 to each victim's family to defray funeral costs.

Both made statements insisting they had nothing to do with the murders. They characterized their reactions to the jury's deadlock as relief at being spared - not a mockery of the court. Both also said they would appeal.

On Dec. 20, the jury found both guilty of first-degree murder. Drummond, according to the jury's verdict, was the triggerman who shot and killed Holloway and Clark. McDowell, the jury found, brought a revolver to the scene but balked when Drummond ordered him to shoot the kneeling victims. Drummond grabbed the gun and shot both victims in the head.

Trial witnesses said Drummond had a grudge against Holloway because of race and because Holloway had separated from Drummond's sister, with whom he had a disabled child. Clark, who was white, was killed because he was there.

In a trial marked by frequent allegations of witness intimidation, the jury's stalemate was announced in an atmosphere of high emotion, in a courtroom with 10 sheriff's deputies flanking the public gallery.

Afterward, the Drummond and McDowell families - some loudly denouncing the convictions - were escorted from the Criminal Justice Center by deputies before the Holloway and Clark families were allowed to leave.

"We have to go, we're scum!" said McDowell's mother, Theresa Merlo, as deputies tried to move her and her family toward the elevators.

Bette Clark, Timmy Clark's mother, and Holloway's sister, Denille Holloway, said they were satisfied with the sentence, Assistant District Attorney Carlos Vega, and homicide detectives Thomas Gaul and John Verrecchio.

"Thank God, justice has been done - and on the 13th," said Clark. Clark added that she was superstitious and felt the jury would decide on the same date as her son's murder.

Holloway said she wished Drummond and McDowell had said they were sorry: "I think at least I would sleep a little better."

She also bemoaned the racial element in the two killings: "I think this case has set back race relations in this neighborhood by 20 years."

Drummond and McDowell were arrested in September 2008 - 14 months after Holloway and Clark were killed.

Homicide detectives did not recover a murder weapon, and there was no blood or DNA linking the two to the shootings.

But detectives followed leads and interviewed girlfriends and associates of the two men - a collection of drug addicts and petty criminals - who testified about how Drummond boasted of the killings, using a racial epithet, and how McDowell described in detail what had happened.

The trial testimony presented by Vega portrayed a neighborhood of a few square blocks infected with fear and intimidation and dominated by the McDowell and Drummond families, who were related through marriage.

According to testimony, Drummond and McDowell accosted the two victims about 2:20 a.m. in the 6900 block of Vandike Street as they walked home to Clark's house from a local convenience store.

Clark worked in Holloway's lawn-cutting business, and Holloway was living with Clark's family after moving out of the Drummond household.

Neither McDowell nor Drummond - who is married to McDowell's sister - testified.

During the sentencing hearing, Drummond's mother and McDowell's mother and brother described horrific childhoods marked by poverty, physical abuse, drugs, and criminal conduct.

Police and detectives kept a watchful eye on the volatile relationships among the families of defendants and victims. Early in the trial, Drummond's brother, Michael, 24, was charged with witness intimidation.