Dashawn Bethea indicted in connection with the 2013 shooting death of Berkley McDaniel
A city man has been indicted in connection with the 2013 shooting death of 61-year-old Berkley McDaniel.
Around 8:45 p.m. on June 9, 2013, police found McDaniel lying on the sidewalk in the 400 block of Stuyvesant Avenue suffering from a gunshot wound to the head. McDaniel was pronounced dead at the scene.
In January, Dashawn Bethea, 25, was arrested in connection with McDaniel’s death. And a Mercer County grand jury returned a five-count indictment last week charging Bethea with first-degree murder, second-degree aggravated assault, possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose, unlawful possession of a handgun and certain persons not to possess a weapon.
According to arrest documents in the case, police spoke with two witnesses who said they were riding their bikes on Stuyvesant Avenue that evening when Bethea allegedly began shooting at them.
At the time of the shooting, documents state, Bethea was walking home from the store with his father Charles Boston and Berkley McDaniel. But when he allegedly opened fire on the two bicyclists, Bethea accidentally shot Boston and McDaniel.
Boston suffered a gunshot wound to the shoulder and survived those injuries, documents state, and he later told police that he never saw the shooter.
But during a conversation with a witness, documents state, Bethea allegedly admitted that he accidentally shot Boston and McDaniel using a Hi-Point .40 caliber handgun that he referred to as “Big Black.”
Police found two spent .40 caliber shell casings at the scene, along with a broken cell phone, a bicycle, and an ammunition magazine, according to court documents in the case.
Bethea remains held in the Mercer County Correction Center on $1 million cash bail.
