A Philadelphia man has been charged in the 2008 killing of a Philadelphia School District guidance counselor who was gunned down in the driveway of his Yeadon home.
Eddie Poindexter Tate, 22, of the 1400 block of South 58th Street in Southwest Philadelphia, was identified by the office of Delaware County District Attorney John J. Whelan as a "principal or accomplice" in the killing of Veno E.E. Leigertwood Jr., 31, the father of a 7-month-old girl, who worked with low-income students.
Tate, already in a state prison near Altoona, was picked up early Friday by two detectives and brought back to Yeadon for arraignment on charges of second-degree murder and related offenses.
He allegedly told investigators Leigertwood was killed in a robbery.
At the time of the slaying, Leigertwood had been taking science courses at the University of Pennsylvania in order to go to medical school. The seemingly random nature of his killing drew the attention of NBC's Dateline.
The case was noteworthy because the Banner Life Insurance Co. refused to pay off on a $1 million policy issued 18 days before Leigertwood's death. In a court petition, it said police had "not eliminated" his wife, Raven, as a suspect.
The company did not respond to an Inquirer request for comment on the status of the claim Friday. Yeadon Police Chief Donald Molineux said he did not know what had become of the claim.
Tate was in custody at Graterford Prison in February when detectives first interviewed him about the killing.
Authorities said in a court affidavit that Tate lied to them on at least two occasions, but later admitted involvement in the incident. They said he linked two additional men to the killing, one of whom he said was the shooter.
Tate told police he and the others had been driving around looking for someone to rob when they came upon Leigertwood either loading his car or washing it, the affidavit said.
Molineux said Tate was ordered without bail at Graterford until a preliminary hearing Friday in Yeadon.
"The investigation is still ongoing, without a doubt," he said. "And, surely, the two other person identified by [Tate] in the police investigation are definitely suspects in the shooting."
No additional arrest warrants had yet been issued, he said.
Contact staff writer Tom Infield
at 610-313-8205 or tinfield@phillynews.com.
