Dashawn Bethea | Homicide Watch Trenton

Trenton killer gets 14 years in connection with 2013 homicide

Scott Ketterer — Fri, 13 Jan 2017 12:53:36 -0500

DaShawn Bethea stood solemn in khaki prison garb before a Mercer County Judge as he received a sentence of 14 years in the death of 61-year-old Berkley McDaniel in June of 2013 on Friday.

The 27-year-old was sentenced in accordance with a negotiated plea deal for manslaughter and aggravated assault in two violent cases in Trenton.

DaShawn Bethea

McDaniel’s family said in court they did not know Bethea, but they questioned why he would have committed such a violent act against McDaniel. In spite of Bethea’s crime that took McDaniel’s life – the family forgave him in letters and before the court. McDaniel was not Bethea’s intended victim, but an innocent bystander who was struck amid wild gunfire on Stuyvesant Avenue that night.

McDaniel’s wife, who was not present at the hearing, had her voice heard through a letter addressed to the court. McDaniel received the awful news while she was at work that Berkley McDaniel had been shot in the head in Trenton. Through the letter his wife said that they did not know Bethea, but questioned why he would commit such a brutal crime.

“Berkley is gone, we will forever remember him. Nothing can bring him back,” she said in the letter read to the court by Assistant Prosecutor William Fisher. The family asked that the court punish Bethea to the fullest extent of the law.
McDaniel’s sister Cynthia McDaniel-Hankins, who made the journey with family from Virginia, addressed the court in a letter and in person.

“You have hurt two families, the McDaniel family and your own,” McDaniel-Hankins wrote in a letter to the court. “You are a young man; we pray that you have begun to change your life for the better. Every day we remind you of the special moments we spent with him. There is nothing that can be done to bring Berkley back to us.”
The oldest of six siblings, Billy McDaniel, passed away before knowing if justice would be served in his brother’s death, McDaniel-Hankins’ letter said.

“So I say today to Mr., Bethea, we forgive you for what you’ve done. I understand that they’re telling me that you didn’t intend to shoot my brother, but I wish you the best,” McDaniel-Hankins said while fighting a flood of emotion before the court. “As you grow older, I hope that you will be able to turn your life around and you will be able to come out of jail and be productive. I don’t know anything about you sir, but I forgive you.”
Bethea was given a chance to speak and he addressed the court expressing his apologies to both McDaniel’s family and his own.

“I never intended to hurt Mr. McDaniel. He was a good man, I knew him personally,” Bethea said. “I know it hurt right now, because there’s nothing I can say to bring Mr. McDaniel back.

Bethea expressed that despite McDaniel’s death he never intended to kill [McDaniel] , and that he’s a “kindhearted dude.” Bethea then asked for the family’s forgiveness stating, “I hope you all forgive me, later on down the line. I know it’s hard right now.”

Judge Peter Warshaw then imposed the recommended sentence of 14-years on the aggravated manslaughter, and a seven-year sentence on a separate aggravated assault that will run concurrently.

Trenton killer accepts two-for-one plea

Isaac Avilucea — Thu, 06 Oct 2016 16:25:18 -0400

Prosecutors must be throwing a fall blowout sale after a Trenton man essentially paid for one crime and got another free in murder and attempted murder cases.

Dashawn Bethea admitted Thursday to aggravated manslaughter and aggravated assault in two violent cases in Trenton and will spend less than two decades behind bars under terms of his deal with prosecutors.

He fired a .40 caliber handgun into a crowd on the 400 block of Stuyvesant Avenue on June 9, 2013 while walking with his father, Charles Boston, back from a nearby store.

Bethea missed bicyclists who were his intended targets, and a stray bullet struck Berkeley McDaniel, 61, in the head, killing him. Bethea also wounded his father, who suffered a gunshot wound to his shoulder. Boston recovered from his injuries.

Police found spent .40 caliber shell casings at the scene, along with a broken cell phone, a bicycle, and an ammunition magazine.

Bethea was indicted in the June 2013 murder and also faced attempted murder and weapons offenses in a separate case for shooting two victims. His plea deal calls for him to serve 14 years for manslaughter, and seven years for aggravated assault – both of which he will serve concurrently.

The deal is far better than the 30 years previously extended to Bethea for murder.

It’s the second time in the last week Mercer County prosecutors have agreed to lenient deals with murder suspects – perhaps suggesting their cases weren’t strong.

Grady Blue III, 23, jumped at a plea deal last Friday, in admitting to a lesser charge of aggravated manslaughter for fatally shooting Naquan Ellis, 23, as he was stood with a group of people outside of the North 25 housing complex in June 2014.

Blue’s deal calls for him to serve 12 years in the slammer.

Bethea’s sentencing date was not immediately available. He remains jailed on $1 million bail.

Dashawn Bethea declines plea deal, will stand trial in 2013 murder

Isaac Avilucea — Tue, 09 Dec 2014 09:29:35 -0500

A Trenton man is expected to take his case to trial rather than accept an offer from prosecutors that would require him to spend 30 years in prison for murder.

Dashawn Bethea, 25, is accused of firing a .40 caliber handgun into a crowd on the 400 block of Stuyvesant Avenue on June 9, 2013 while he was walking with his father, Charles Boston, back from a nearby store.

Bethea missed bicyclists who were his intended targets, and a bullet struck Berkeley McDaniel, 61, in the head. Bethea also wounded his father, who suffered a gunshot wound the shoulder but recovered from his injuries.

Bethea was in court Monday for a status update. He was indicted in the June 2013 shooting earlier this year and also faces attempted murder and weapons offenses in a separate case, Mercer County Assistant Prosecutor Lew Korngut said.

Police found spent .40 caliber shell casings at the scene, along with a broken cell phone, a bicycle, and an ammunition magazine. Bethea, who remains in jail on $1 million bail, is scheduled to appear back in court in January.

Dashawn Bethea indicted in connection with the 2013 shooting death of Berkley McDaniel

Penny Ray — Tue, 19 Aug 2014 17:27:00 -0400

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.