Dad At Center Of Amber Alert Charged With Murder

Philadelphia PA

23 April, 2021

11:33 AM

Description

PHILADELPHIA — Authorities in Philadelphia said the man at the center of an Amber Alert issued last week has been charged with killing the mother of his child and the child's grandmother. District Attorney Larry Krasner on Friday announced murder and related charges have been filed against Byron McDonald, 27, for his role in the deaths of two women, a mother and daughter, found dead earlier this month. An Amber Alert was previously issued for a missing toddler, which led Philadelphia Police to the Aloft Hotel near the Philadelphia International Airport on April 12 where the child was found safe and McDonald was arrested. The DA's office said McDonald is alleged to have fatally shot Tamara Aikens, 50, at about 1 p.m. on April 9 in front of her home on the 2500 block of North Bancroft Street. McDonald is alleged to have fired multiple gunshots through the passenger window while driving a red Chevy Malibu, the DA's office said. Video evidence captures events before, during, and after the shooting. The Chevy Malibu is determined to be registered to Morgan Braxton, Aikens' daughter. Then on April 11, a missing person's report was filed with the Philadelphia Police Department for Braxton, 25. The next day, a relative contacted Philadelphia Police saying they feared for Braxton's safety due to a relationship with McDonald, with whom she has a 3-year-old child. After responding to a call that Braxton was not answering the door of her home on the 4200 block of North 8th Street, police went into the home and found Braxton with gunshots wounds to her head, the DA's office said. That's when the Amber Alert was issued for the child, with information about McDonald and the red Chevy Malibu registered to Braxton. Police, on April 12, got information that the Malibu was parked at the Aloft Hotel near the Philadelphia International Airport. Braxton's credit card had been used to rent a room, which was registered to McDonald's mother, the DA's office said. A SWAT Unit and members of the Homicide Fugitive Squad arrive and secure the scene and took McDonald and his mother into custody without incident, and the child was safely recovered. On April 14, the DA's Office charged McDonald with possession with intent to deliver, conspiracy, and endangering the welfare of a child. After homicide detectives got ballistics evidence, cell phone records, additional video surveillance, and other information, the DA's Office approved murder and related charges for the deaths of Braxton and Aikens on April 22 "Thanks to diligent investigation by the Philadelphia Police, my office is prepared to make sure Byron McDonald is held accountable for murdering Morgan Braxton and Tamara Aikens," Krasner said. "Our hearts are broken for the toddler who lost his mother and grandmother to such unspeakable horror. What this child needs right now is beyond the scope of the criminal justice system to deliver in a courtroom. We as a city, as a community, owe a collective responsibility to the children most traumatized by violence. It is on all of us to make sure this child, and all children touched by violence are not defined by the worst day of their young lives."