Charged with stabbing, burning death in N. Coventry
Prosecutors will seek the death penalty against Shakeem Carter, charged in the grisly murder of Kevin Allen in North Coventry in February.
Chester County District Attorney Tom Hogan announced Thursday that the state will pursue the death penalty against Shakeem Carter, charged in a grisly murder of a teen in February.
Carter was charged with the Feb. 12 murder of Kevin Allen, 17. The victim, authorities said, was stabbed to death and set on fire during a robbery in his father’s apartment in North Coventry.
Ultimately, the extreme nature of the crime led prosecutors to seek the death penalty in the case.
“The decision to pursue the death penalty is reserved for the most serious crimes and is only reached after careful deliberations,” District Attorney Tom Hogan said in a statement released by his office. “After consultation with the police and the victim’s family, this decision is based upon the circumstances surrounding the murder of this young man.”
The District Attorney’s Office listed three aggravating factors for pursuing the death penalty: (1) the offense was committed by means of torture; (2) the murder was committed while in the perpetration of a felony; and (3) during the commission of the murder, the defendant created a grave risk of death to another person in addition to the victim.
Police reported finding the body of Allen in his father’s apartment, which was ablaze in the Hanover Garden complex on East Schuylkill Road on Feb. 12 about 7 p.m. Authorities said Allen was stabbed about 20 times, including across his throat. Carter apparently used cooking oil to ignite the victim’s body and a bedroom mattress, Hogan said at the time of Carter’s arrest in February.
