He'll mark his 20th awaiting murder trial

Today, Tyrell Hart will celebrate his 20th birthday in a Philadelphia jail cell -accused of murdering his college-student girlfriend and the baby she was carrying for him.

Yesterday, following a preliminary hearing in Common Pleas Court, Hart was ordered to stand trial for murder, first-degree murder of the unborn child and related gun charges after a homicide detective read a confession he allegedly gave two days after the Oct. 14, 2008 crimes.

"I shot her because I was angry and frustrated over her being pregnant. I was scared because she was having a baby and I wasn't ready for that, and I didn't know how to prepare for that and how to tell my family," Det. Jack Cummings said, reading from Hart's statement.

Selene Raynor, 21, a third-year chemistry major at West Chester University, was struck at close range by a single bullet in the face as she and Hart sat in her Jeep Cherokee, which was parked on Newkirk Street near Berks a few blocks from his Strawberry Mansion home.

Raynor, of North Philadelphia, had picked up Hart and driven to the rundown block to discuss the pregnancy.

"Instead of having to tell your parents and family that your girl was pregnant, you have to tell them, 'I shot her, I killed her and our baby,' " Municipal Judge Patrick Dugan said. "It just makes no sense. Instead of picking out pink or blue you are held for murder."

Hart, a graduate of Benjamin Franklin High School, said nothing during the hearing. The first witness was homicide Det. James Pitts, who read the first of two statements Hart made on Oct. 16.

While playing with his illegal, stolen handgun, Hart said he shot Raynor by accident after he startled when he heard a car door slam, Pitts said.

Some eight hours later, Cummings testified, Hart asked to give the second statement, during which he cited the fear of fatherhood as his motive for pulling the trigger.

Defense attorney Chuck Peruto Jr. questioned why the two detectives had not given Hart the option of having his statements videotaped, which he contended is Police Department policy.

"He's going to plead not guilty because it's a question of fact for the jury to determine whether or not he made these statements and whether or not these statements contain everything that he said," said Peruto, during an interview.

Assistant District Attorney Deborah Watson-Stokes, however, said this case is as bad as it gets for parents of daughters.

"You raise your daughter up, you send them on to college, and on to a bright future. She happens to meet the wrong man, the wrong individual. She gets pregnant and his solution is death," the prosecutor said, after the hearing. "This is a parent's worst nightmare."

Raynor's death devastated her family's neighbors on 28th Street near Cumberland, as it did her classmates at West Chester University.

The day after the slaying, about 200 students and friends attended an impromptu vigil on the campus, where Raynor was active in the gospel choir, the Student Activities Council and the Black Student Union, the university told the Daily News.