PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — A judge on Wednesday found a Philadelphia man guilty of killing his child’s mother and grandmother more than two years ago.
Byron McDonald is convicted of two third-degree murder charges for the deaths of Morgan Braxton, with whom he had a relationship and a son, and Braxton's mother, Tamara Aikens.
Over a few days of testimony, Judge Barbara McDermott heard from investigators, cell phone experts, the medical examiner and relatives of the Braxton and Aikens; and viewed surveillance video and cell phone records that prosecutors said linked McDonald to the murders.
Video showed a person driving Braxton’s car down Bancroft Street on April 9, and shooting 50-year-old Aikens several times as she was outside her home. Braxton was found dead inside her home a few days later, though she was believed to be the first victim killed.
Prosecutors showed a map of McDonald’s cell phone activity on the day of the murders — showing him moving from Braxton’s house to Aiken’s home and then to his own mother’s house in West Philly, and then eventually to a hotel near the airport. That's where McDonald, his mother and young son were found after an Amber Alert had been issued.
McDonald’s attorney tried to poke holes in the case, saying there was no gun found and no video of McDonald shooting, and there were issues with the cell phone records. They contended McDonald wasn’t the shooter.
In the end Judge McDermott found prosecutors had shown enough evidence, and McDonald is set to be sentenced in January to, likely, decades in prison.