Wynnefield man faces trial in two drug-related killings this year

A Philadelphia Municipal Court judge on Tuesday ordered a Wynnefield man to stand trial for in two drug-related killings this year.

Kyree Darrisaw, 28, was charged with the May 10 slaying of Basil Amir Anderson, 23, and the Aug. 4 killing of 21-year-old Meshach Brightly.

Both victims were shot in the back of the head with the same .40-caliber pistol. Anderson's body was found in the 5300 block of Hazelhurst Street, just a few blocks from Darrisaw's house. Brightly's body was found in the 5300 block of Berks Street, a half-block from where Anderson was killed.

The key witness presented by Assistant District Attorney Kirk Handrich was Darrisaw's uncle, Donnie Timbers, who testified that Darrisaw told him and others in the neighborhood that Anderson was killed over a $40 drug debt, and Brightly because he hadn't paid one of Darrisaw's cousins for several thousand dollars worth of drugs. - Joseph A. Slobodzian