Teen is accused of taking part in the fatal shooting of a 25-year-old city man in December.
A 25-year-old Erie man fatally shot in the doorway of his eastside residence in early December was mortally wounded as three males armed with a handgun attempted to rob him, according to information outlined in the criminal complaint of a teenager charged in the case on Wednesday.
Damarjon D. Beason, 17, [Pictured right] was taken into police custody on Wednesday morning and was later arraigned by Erie 3rd Ward District Judge Tom Carney on charges including criminal homicide, aggravated assault and robbery.
Beason was charged under the Fisher Bill, a state law that permits juveniles accused of committing violent crime to be charged as adults.
Beason is charged in the shooting death of 25-year-old Patric Phillips on the late afternoon of Dec. 7. Derrick D. Elverton, 19, of Erie, was charged in the case on Feb. 11 and is awaiting a preliminary hearing scheduled for May 1.
Officers who responded to a residence in the 700 block of East 24th Street after the shooting was reported on Dec. 7 at 5:48 p.m. found Phillips dead in the doorway of the residence.
An autopsy determined that Phillips died of at least two gunshot wounds, one to the head and one to the neck, Erie County Coroner Lyell Cook said.
According to police, Phillips was inside his residence with two other people when someone knocked on the back door. Phillips opened the door and was shot, police said.
Investigators reported at the time that several people were outside when the shooting happened, and that officers recovered at least one shell casing at the shooting scene.
Erie police initially released few details on the shooting, and the criminal complaint against Elverton was sealed. But new details emerged in the complaint filed against Beason.
According to detectives, three males confronted Phillips at the back door of his home after the suspects forced another person at gunpoint to knock on the door. The suspects fled after the shots were fired.
Officers who responded to the shooting canvassed the area and found a 9 mm handgun that was determined to be the murder weapon, an Apple iPhone and a jacket that matched the description of a jacket worn by one of the suspects, Erie police Detective Sgt. Michael Hertel and Detective Sgt. Craig Stoker wrote in the affidavit of probable cause filed with Beason’s complaint.
Detectives also obtained and reviewed surveillance video from cameras in the area that showed the suspects before and after the shooting. Video and other evidence led investigators to identify Elverton and Beason as two of the suspects, according to the affidavit.
The homicide investigation is ongoing, investigators said Wednesday.
