Suspected drug dealer wanted for mom's, baby's murders

Police are hunting a suspected drug dealer they say shot and killed a pregnant woman and her newborn Sunday.

An arrest warrant has been issued for Devon Guisherd, 26, of Penn Street near Arrott, who's accused of killing Megan Doto, 25, and her newborn baby girl. Homicide Capt. James Clark said yesterday that Doto was an innocent bystander who caught a bullet intended for someone else.

Doto, who was eight months pregnant and had two other children ages 6 and 4, was babysitting a neighbor's 7-year-old daughter outside her home on Adams Avenue near Griscom Street just before noon Sunday when a gunman blasted a barrage of bullets at a white sedan nearby.

Police rushed Doto to the hospital, but she died a half hour after doctors delivered her baby girl by emergency C-section. The baby then died about 13 hours later, prompting police to declare the case a double homicide.

Police warn that Guisherd should be considered armed and dangerous. Court records show he is a repeat offender with past arrests for drug offenses and an upcoming trial scheduled for March 30 for a 2012 drug bust. He beat an attempted murder case last April stemming from a 2006 incident, court records show.

Clark said that the block was "a drug area," and investigators were eyeing whether drugs played a role in the shooting. Today, police spokesman Lt. John Stanford said the motive remains officially listed as "unknown."

A $40,000 reward has been posted for tips leading to the arrest and conviction of the killer. Tipsters can call the homicide unit's fugitive squad at (215) 686-3068 or (215) 686-3334, -3335 or -3336.

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