http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/15413908.htm'You could call it an execution'
By DANA DiFILIPPO
[email protected] 215-854-5934
IT ALL STARTED with a creepy stare from a stranger.
An 18-year-old woman waiting at a Fern Rock bus stop late Wednesday got nervous enough about that leer that she fled across the street.
But the thug followed, and within minutes, a tragedy exploded that left two Good Samaritans in the morgue, the teenager in the hospital, a murderous rapist in jail and three shattered families in agonizing heartache.
The violence began shortly before midnight near 10th Street and Olney Avenue with the teenager's desperate flight from her perverted pursuer.
The man, whom police identified yesterday as Kevin White, 28, of Fairhill Street near Luzerne, Fern Rock, pounced on the girl in a nearby alley, flashed a .45-caliber semi-automatic handgun and demanded her money, said Chief of Detectives Joseph Fox.
The teen had no money, so her depraved assailant dragged her into the dark, secluded walkway behind Anthony Burno's rowhouse, where he began raping her, Fox said.
Just then, Burno and his girlfriend, Kira Derrick, 29, arrived home after a night out, Fox said.
As they parked behind Burno's garage, the rapist hurriedly ordered his victim to put her pants back on and pretend she was his girlfriend until the couple went into Burno's home, Fox said.
But the victim, compliant at first, tore free of her attacker as the couple neared, screamed for help and warned them that her rapist was armed, Fox said.
Before they could respond, the thug began firing, Fox said. He chased the trio into Burno's small, weedy back yard, where he shot the three as they tried to hide, Fox said.
"You could call it an execution," Fox said.
The teen limped to neighbor Terrell Mackey's back door, and began pounding on it and shrieking for help.
"I let her in and called the cops and then went around [the house] to check on everyone to see if they were cool," said Mackey, 18, adding that he had not realized until later the extent of the carnage outside.
Outside, Burno and Derrick lay dying, and their killer had vanished.
But he didn't get far. Police Officers Richard Redanauer and Timothy McGonigle were on routine patrol nearby when they heard a radio call of gunfire, Fox said.
They spotted White sprinting down 11th Street, and collared him after a brief struggle, Fox said. The officers found a handgun shoved in White's waistband, and his victim identified him at the scene as her attacker, he added.
White, free on bail awaiting trial in the sexual assault and beating of his girlfriend's 6-year-old son, now is being held without bail on charges of murder, aggravated assault, rape and related offenses.
The teen was hospitalized with wounds to the leg and arm. She was expected to survive.
Yesterday morning, a dried pool of gore, discarded latex gloves and other medical gear, and police chalk markings indicating where spent bullet casings had fallen, attested to the carnage.
Relatives of Burno, reluctant to witness such graphic evidence of his violent death, huddled in the alley, tearfully remembering him as a carefree man who loved to sing and cook.
Burno, 48, was a chef who started a new job this week - he'd worked only a day - in the student center cafeteria at Temple University and had another culinary job at a Center City restaurant, relatives said.
He had previously worked at a lunch truck outside the Social Security building on Spring Garden Street near 4th, and other restaurants in the city, they said.
Derrick, a mother of two, had been dating Burno for about six months, his relatives said. Her blue Ford Explorer remained parked outside Burno's rowhouse yesterday, with two baby seats, a Dora the Explorer doll, kids' school papers, a toy black Cadillac Escalade and other child-related items strewn in the back.
Derrick did clerical work in the Social Security building and got to know Burno as a lunch-truck regular, Burno's relatives said.
That sounded familiar to Wadiyah Burno, his estranged wife, who met him when she worked for Prudential. She said she had been happily married to him for four years and was separated the last two.
"He used to make my breakfast, lunch and dinner, and bring it to my desk for free," she said.
Yesterday, Burno said she had remained close to her estranged husband and his relatives despite their marital troubles. Her cheeks shone with tears as she remembered Burno's love of singing.
"He sang me down the aisle," she said, smiling as she remembered his tenor version of the Whispers' "I'm Gonna Make You My Wife."
Burno sang so well, he often won cash, show tickets, trophies and other prizes in contests at Sid Booker's club on Broad Street near Belfield Avenue, his estranged wife said.
Gail Graham Burno, 50, his sister-in-law, laughed as she remembered his love of fashionable clothes - including a long 1970s-style, white-fur coat he wore to a New Year's party.
His relatives said he typically worked until 8 p.m., and the couple probably were returning home from a date when they were shot dead.
Kira Derrick's stepfather, Marshall Smith, of Fayetteville, Ga., described her as a "very quiet person. In a crowd, she would be that person standing back in the crowd."
Smith said Kira's main focus was on her children - Tarik, 4, and Taylor, 2.
He said she had put in for a transfer back to the Atlanta area recently because "she didn't have the support" she needed in Philadelphia.
"Her mother [Hazel] is here," Smith said. "They had a very, very close relationship. They talked two or three times every day.
"We knew something was wrong early today [Thursday] when we couldn't get in touch with her. Her mother called the job" and was told Kira hadn't come to work.
They were informed later of what had happened when, he said, "someone else called us who saw it on the news."
Smith said Kira was an only child but had stepbrothers after "we became a family in '91."
Kira grew up in Philadelphia. The family moved to Texas when she was a junior in high school and returned to the Philadelphia area in 1998. She lived for a time in Atlanta and moved back to Philly in 2005.
Denise Severe, owner of Denise's Soul Food, the lunch truck where Burno had worked, said: "He was a good person. He showed up for work on time. He would argue a lot; very argumentative but, overall, a good guy."
Severe said that she couldn't remember when Burno started at the truck but that he left last month.
She said her daughter runs the truck and had to tell the other employees that Burno had been murdered.
Burno's relatives were upset when they learned about White's criminal record.
White was scheduled for an Oct. 2 preliminary hearing on the assault case involving his girlfriend's then-6-year-old child in December 2004, according to court records. He was freed on $5,000 bail, records show.
Authorities said White had been watching his girlfriend's child while she worked. He was unemployed.
White's family couldn't be reached for comment yesterday.
Fox said the crime points to problems in the system, in which serious offenders dodge serious punishment and return to the street to commit new crimes.
"You get the same people back on the street in days or weeks, committing the same crimes time and again," Fox said. He complained that low bail and lax sentencing keep dangerous thugs in the community.
"There's a breakdown in the system. [Judges] need to get their heads out of the sand."
Staff writers Theresa Conroy, Damon Williams and Gloria Campisi contributed to this report.
It is often argued that victims have a duty to retreat. This case shows how wrong they are. After the assailant’s initial crime was interrupted he pursued the Good Samaritans and killed them. Had the victims been armed would they have survived? Perhaps, perhaps not, but they would have had a fighting chance. This is yet another case of a violent criminal on bail committing yet another violent crime. If the government can pose restrictions on the 1st and 2nd Amendments, should we seriously impose restrictions on the 8th Amendment. How many here would support a proposition that would not allow bail for violent felony charges?
