Jasmarr Anderson, a 20-year-old male, was killed late on July 20, 2013, in Chester, Pennsylvania, in a shooting that unfolded around the Benjamin Banneker Apartments at 2101 West Seventh Street. Police were called there at about 11:45 p.m. after a report of gunfire. When Officer Melissa Goodman arrived, someone at the scene directed her to the east side of the building, where Anderson was found on the ground with a gunshot wound to the head.
He had no pulse and was pronounced deceased at the scene.
The case quickly centered on surveillance footage from the apartment complex. Investigators with the Delaware County Criminal Investigation Division recovered video from the building's camera system, reviewed multiple camera angles, and later worked to synchronize the footage. The video showed Anderson with two other men, later identified as Alexander Garnett and David Colon. In the footage, the three appeared to be walking together near the building and toward West Seventh Street and Jeffrey Street. What looked at first like a casual walk turned deadly when Garnett dropped back, moved behind Anderson, and positioned himself directly behind him. Anderson was seen on his cell phone moments before he fell to the ground, while Garnett and Colon ran away from the area.
The medical evidence supported what the footage appeared to show. The medical examiner determined that Anderson died from a single gunshot wound to the back-left portion of his head, and the wound was consistent with close-range firing. The gun had been within about two feet of Anderson's head, and the bullet trajectory indicated the weapon had been behind him. The manner of death was ruled a homicide.
Investigators identified Alexander Garnett as the suspect after reviewing the surveillance footage and showing images from it to people who knew him, including his parole officer. Detectives also searched Garnett's Facebook account, which was connected to the nickname “Cheddar Bob,” and found that he had uploaded a photo the day before the murder wearing clothing that matched what the suspect in the apartment-complex footage wore on the night Anderson was killed. After additional warrants and investigation, an arrest warrant for Garnett was approved on August 27, 2013, and he was arrested the next day.
At trial, the prosecution presented the surveillance footage, police and detective testimony, and testimony from Shaquan Cooper, who was Anderson's brother and had been present at the Benjamin Banneker Apartments that night. Cooper said he saw Anderson, Colon, and Garnett walking around the building toward Jeffrey Street, heard a gunshot, and then found Anderson on the ground with a wound to his head. Cooper later told police that about ten days before the shooting, Garnett had said he was going to kill Anderson. Cooper also said that after Anderson was killed, Garnett threatened to kill him as well.
The prosecution also used recorded jail calls made by Garnett while he was held at George W. Hill Correctional Facility. In one call, Garnett instructed someone to contact potential witnesses and tell them not to remember anything or not to come to court. The court viewed that evidence as part of the larger picture showing Garnett's effort to silence or discourage testimony after Anderson's killing.
David Colon, who had been seen in the surveillance footage walking with Anderson and Garnett, was not tried in Anderson's killing. He was murdered after Anderson's death and before Garnett's arrest. During Garnett's appeal, his defense raised issues related to the Colon murder investigation, suggesting that Colon's death might have been tied to retaliation or alternative theories about who was responsible for Anderson's shooting. The courts rejected Garnett's arguments and found the evidence sufficient to support his conviction.
A jury convicted Alexander Garnett of first-degree murder and possession of a firearm by a person prohibited. On January 30, 2015, he was sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole, along with a consecutive five-to-ten-year sentence on the firearm conviction. Garnett appealed, but the Pennsylvania Superior Court affirmed the judgment of sentence, leaving the conviction and life sentence in place.
