Danny DeGennaro, 56, was killed with a shotgun blast at close range in his Bristol Township home in what authorities say was a botched attempt to get money from him. DeGennaro, who toured the country with the group Kingfish and such rock and R&B stars as Bob Weir of the Grateful Dead and Clarence Clemons of the E Street Band, died a short time later at St. Mary Medical Center.
One of the suspects, Jermaine Jackson, 19, told his four codefendants "that they were going to a guy's house that owed him money," according to court documents.
Jackson enlisted two 17-year-old women, Danasia Bakr of Falls Township and Tatyana Henderson of Bensalem, to go with the two other men to collect the money, according to court documents.
Bakr and Henderson waited outside DeGennaro's house while Breon Powell, 21, armed with a shotgun, and Kazair Gist, armed with a handgun, went inside, according to court documents.
Powell allegedly shot DeGennaro, authorities have said. All five defendants were charged as adults with murder, robbery, burglary, conspiracy, and possession of a weapon, and are being held without bail.
The two young women have asked to have their cases transferred to Juvenile Court, and they are not expected to be tried with the three men because they have cooperated with investigators.
The District Attorney's Office originally said it would seek the death penalty for the three men. But it was later determined that Gist was a minor at the time of the shooting and not eligible for the death penalty.
At the pretrial hearing Friday, Assistant District Attorney Matt Weintraub said Jackson also was "just under 18" at the time and did not qualify, leaving only Powell facing a possible death penalty.
Contact Bill Reed at 215-801-2964, wreed@philly.com, or follow @breedbucks on Twitter. Read his blog, "BucksInq," at www.philly.com/bucksinq.
