Body found in trunk: 'A tragic end to a very tragic life'

Once a child slave in his native Liberia, Dardar Paye grew up to be a U.S. Army veteran and a convicted felon.

But early Sunday, Paye's life took one final, violent turn when his body was found in the trunk of one of three vehicles that cops chased from Trenton into Bucks County, police said.

"He came from an incredibly horrible and violent life, beginning from the moment of his birth right up until his death," said Paye's immigration lawyer, Craig Shagin.

Paye, 33, of Maplewood, N.J., was found dead of a gunshot wound in the trunk of a Buick sedan that had been pulled over on Route 1 South near the Oxford Valley exit shortly after 1 a.m., police said.

The driver of that car, Phobus Sullivan, 27, of Trenton, tried to escape on foot but was quickly caught, police said.

The passenger, Mack Edwards, 25, also of Trenton, was taken into custody without incident, police said.

Two Trenton police units had chased the Buick, a white minivan and a silver Mitsubishi from an area in Trenton that has seen a rash of recent home invasions, a Pennsylvania State Police trooper said.

The cars stuck together through the Delaware River toll bridge plaza, with one stopping to pay the toll while the others blew through, the trooper said.

The chase continued, and the Mitsubishi was able to elude police when the driver left Route 1 at the Route 13 exit. The Buick, however, was stopped on Route 1 by one of the police units, and State Police from Bucks County stopped the van with spike strips along Interstate 95 near Trevose, the trooper said.

Two men in the van, Danuweli Keller, 23, of Hamilton, N.J., and Abdutawab Kiazolu, 22, of Trenton, are in Bucks County Prison in lieu of $5 million bail each, State Police said.

Sullivan, Edwards, Keller and Kiazolu are in Pennsylvania awaiting extradition to New Jersey. None has been officially charged with homicide yet.

At the time of his death, Paye was facing deportation for a conviction on felony gun-trafficking and marijuana charges, Shagin said.

He said Paye came to the country from war-torn Liberia when he was 13, after being enslaved as a child soldier. After just five years in this country and with a green card in his possession, Paye became a soldier again - this time willingly - when he signed up for the Army. He was deployed to Kuwait and Kosovo and was honorably discharged in 2001.

"I think a lot of immigrants like the idea of being an American soldier," Shagin said. "It makes them feel more a part of a country they weren't born into."

Sometime after his discharge, though, Paye was arrested on the charges, found guilty and served time in prison, although he maintained his innocence to the end, Shagin said.

Paye had served his time - Shagin didn't know how long - but remained in the country while he fought deportation.

Shagin said that he was shocked by Paye's death and that he hoped to one day know how he met his fate.

"It's a tragic end to a very tragic life," he said.