Philly man faces trial in death of Nicki Minaj's tour manager
A Philadelphia judge on Tuesday ordered a Stenton man to stand trial on chargers of murder, attempted murder and assault in the stabbing death of rapper Nicki Minaj's tour manager and the wounding of her production manager outside an East Germantown bar.
A Philadelphia judge on Tuesday ordered a Stenton man to stand trial on chargers of murder, attempted murder and assault in the stabbing death of rapper Nicki Minaj's tour manager and the wounding of her production manager outside an East Germantown bar.
Pierce Boykin, 31, was held after a preliminary hearing before Municipal Court Judge David C. Shuter involving a Feb. 18 fight that killed 29-year-old De'Von Pickett and wounded Eric Reese, 27.
What sparked the early-morning melee, however, remained unclear.
Assistant District Attorney Kirk Handrich said there was no evidence of an argument inside Che Bar & Grill between Boykin and his two friends and Pickett and four friends.
Handrich said Pickett might have touched a jealous nerve in one of Boykin's friends with an offhand comment to a female bartender Boykin's friend may have dated.
According to testimony by Reese and Marcus Kincy, 27, Minaj's pianist, they, Pickett and two others were in Philadelphia rehearsing for Minaj's upcoming European tour because the city was centrally located for tour staff.
Reese and Kincy said the group went to a Center City bar late on Feb. 17 but then decided stop at Che Bar & Grill, 6364 Stenton Ave., because Reese was friends with bartender Travia Allen.
The two testified that they arrived at Che's about 1 a.m. and drank for about 45 minutes before a former bartender became disruptive, and the owner ordered everyone to leave.
Pickett and his four friends returned to their car across Stenton Avenue when Reese texted Allen to see whether she was OK. Allen said she was leaving, and the five men returned to escort her to her car.
"De'Von asked her if she was OK: 'Are you good, sis?' " Kincy testified.
Kincy testified that a man he said was one of the two with Boykin, responded: " 'What do you mean, is she OK?' And that's when things sort of got out of hand."
Kincy said some pushing started, a punch was thrown and he ran across the street. Kincy said he returned about 15 seconds to where the fight erupted and saw Pickett, unconscious and bleeding, lying against the curb.
Reese said he saw Boykin swing at Pickett and he punched Boykin in the face. Then, the two began rolling and fighting in the street.
Reese testified he suddenly felt a heavy pressure on his side, he and Boykin broke and he began to run.
Reese said Boykin chased him for a bit, yelling: "When I catch you, you're going to be dead just like your man."
It was only later, Reese said, when he and his friends had taken Pickett to Einstein Medical Center, that a nurse noticed that he had been stabbed. Reese said he was hospitalized for a week.
Defense attorneys Stanton M. Lacks and Adam M. Yanoff argued that Shuter should dismiss the charges because neither Reese nor Kincy said they saw a knife or saw Boykin stab Pickett.
Handrich argued that Boykin's alleged comment to Reese and the fact Reese was stabbed as he wrestled with Boykin was enough to hold him for trial.
More than a dozen members of Pickett's family came down from Brooklyn for the hearing and Pickett's mother, Darcia Pickett, wept heavily at its conclusion.
Afterward, Pickett recalled her son as a religious man who was active as a deacon and volunteer in their Pleasant Grove Baptist Church in Brooklyn.
"He was my only child," she said.
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