Killers reject lesser sentence, could face death

A Philadelphia jury yesterday began considering testimony in the penalty hearing of two Northeast Philadelphia men who face possible death sentences after being convicted in December of murdering a man and a teenager.

But before the hearing for Gerald Drummond, 26, and Robert McDowell, 28, got under way in Common Pleas Court, the judge gave both a chance to take the death penalty off the table.

Judge Renee Cardwell Hughes told the defendants that if they gave up their appellate rights, Assistant District Attorney Carlos Vega would recommend a sentence of life in prison without parole.

Considering that one of the victims was a "baby," Hughes said, it would be in their best interest to seriously consider the offer.

But McDowell told Hughes that he would keep his appeal rights and go on with the hearing. Drummond, who testimony and trial witnesses indicated was the triggerman in the July 13, 2007, murders of Damien Holloway, 27, and Timothy Clark, 15, took time to weigh the offer.

He removed his suit coat as he stood before Hughes, then asked if he could speak with family members. Hughes called a recess so that Drummond's wife, Tara; mother, Shirley, and brother, David, could confer with the defendant in a booth outside the courtroom.

Drummond ultimately also decided to keep his appellate rights and to proceed with the hearing.

Although neither Drummond nor McDowell testified, their attorneys argued during the trial that neither man was guilty and, in fact, not even present when the victims were gunned down execution-style on Vandike Street near Longshore Avenue.

The defendants' family members were just as adamant about the pair's innocence while talking with reporters.

"I told him, if you know you did it, take the life sentence. But if you are innocent, you need to fight to the end, and I'll be with you," David Drummond said he told his brother.

Prosecutor Vega told the jury that both were there and that McDowell brought the gun but lacked the heart to shoot. So he handed the weapon to Drummond, who ordered the victims to their knees before opening fire, Vega said.

Holloway had been dating Drummond's sister, and Drummond did not like how the victim had been treating her, Vega told the jury. Drummond shot Clark because he happened to be with Holloway at the time, Vega argued.

Clark's mother, Bette Ann, was the first to take the witness stand during the penalty hearing. Her recollections of Timothy's love for family, football, Xbox games and playing on the family's trampoline brought many, including Vega, to tears.

"He was a good kid, he really was," Clark said in the hallway. "He was a homebody. He didn't like to be in the streets. His friends would come over to the house."

She said that her son's birthday - New Year's Eve - was particularly hard to handle this year.

"It's been very heartbreaking," Clark said. "There's a piece of us missing. He was the baby brother. His two older brothers miss him.

"He had the prettiest blue eyes. I miss his eyes."

The hearing was to resume this morning.