- Danny Nicholson II pleaded guilty to two counts of third-degree murder, other charges in March 2021 shooting at Bogey's Tavern on Buffalo Road
- Two people were killed and three wounded
- DA's Office says Nicholson wrongly took law into his own hands
Danny L. Nicholson II was suffering after his 13-year-old son, Kasir Gambill, was fatally shot in December 2020, according to testimony in an Erie County courtroom on Thursday.
The pain was compounded by those who taunted Nicholson after his son's death, said Debra Pacley-Martin, Nicholson's cousin.
"It broke him," she said.
Pacley-Martin is also the mother of Mauris Pacley, 37, whom Nicholson is accused of fatally shooting on March 3, 2021, at Bogey's Tavern, 2105 Buffalo Road.
Also killed in the shooting was Jason D. Wells, 41. Three people were injured.
Prosecutors said the shooting at Bogey's was the culmination of a three-month shooting spree that Nicholson committed in retaliation for his son's gang-related death.
Pacley-Martin told Erie County Judge Daniel Brabender at Nicholson's sentencing on Thursday that her family has forgiven Nicholson for Pacley's death, and she asked the judge to show leniency in sentencing him. Nicholson and Pacley were close friends, the defense said.
Motive:Deadly vengeance: How retaliation for son's killing fueled double murder at Erie bar
More:Erie man pleads guilty to Bogey's Tavern double murder, series of other shootings in 2021
Melissa Moss, the sister of Wells and one of the three people wounded in the Bogey's tavern shooting, was not so forgiving. She asked Brabender to give Nicholson "everything you deserve" for his actions.
"You tried to play God, but I'm here to tell you there is only one God," Moss said to Nicholson in court.
Brabender followed a recommendation by prosecutors and Nicholson's lawyer, Brian Arrowsmith, in sentencing the 39-year-old Nicholson to 45 to 90 years in state prison on his guilty pleas in July to six charges, including two counts of third-degree murder.
Nicholson did not address the court during his sentencing. Brabender told him that, while he had no doubt that he was suffering as a result of his son's death, there are choices to be made on how to deal with the suffering.
"And you have chosen violence to deal with that suffering," the judge said, adding that "street justice is illegal."
Brabender called the fatal shootings of Pacley and Wells "revenge killings" that he said were "really personal executions."
"I have to say our community will be safer with you behind bars," the judge said before handing down the sentence.
A son's death, gangs and a shooting spree
Kasir Gambill was fatally shot while walking with a 17-year-old on the evening of Dec. 5, 2020. Police and prosecutors have said that the shooting was gang-related and that, according to court records and interviews, Nicholson in his shooting spree was targeting the gang — known as the Five or the 5ive — believed to be responsible for his son's death.
Wells, one of the murder victims, is the father of Jayzhon Goodwin, 20. The District Attorney's Office and Erie police have identified Goodwin as a leader of the Five, according to court records.
The defense in the Nicholson case said Wells was Nicholson's intended target in the shooting at Bogey's.
The 17-year-old who was with Kasir when the shooting happened told investigators that he — not Kasir — had been a target of assault by juveniles who called themselves members of the Five, according to information in the criminal complaints filed against the two juveniles charged by Erie police in Kasir's death. They are 17-year-old James I. Garcia and 16-year-old Deangelo Troop Jr. Both suspects were 15 at the time of the shooting.
Garcia and Troop are scheduled to appear in court for their preliminary hearings on criminal homicide and other charges on Sept. 21.
Erie police also accused Nicholson of firing numerous gunshots into residences in the 2100 block of June Street, the 2100 block of Prospect Avenue, the 500 block of East Fifth Street and the 300 block of East 11th Street in January 2021. No one was reported injured in those shootings.
The locations of some of the shootings were linked to the residences of gang members.
Arrests in Kasir Gambill case:Erie police follow video trail in hunting down suspects accused in 13-year-old's killing
Garcia was living in the 300 block of East 11th Street when Kasir was murdered, according to the arrest records in Garcia's case. Troop was living in the 500 block of East Fifth Street, around East Fifth and Ash streets — the home turf of the Five gang. Goodwin, according to court records, was living nearby, in the 900 block of Ash Street.
Investigators said after the Bogey's Tavern shooting that they had obtained a court order to place a GPS tracking device on Nicholson's car after he became a possible suspect in the January shootings. Information from the GPS showed Nicholson's vehicle arriving at Bogey's before the shooting and leaving shortly after, according to police.
Other evidence that connected Nicholson to the Bogey's shooting — according to police — was witness information, recovered evidence including shell casings, and surveillance video.
More:Bogey's Tavern shooting: 2 counts of 1st-degree murder top 42 charges at arraignment
Family speaks at Nicholson's sentencing
Those who spoke on behalf of Nicholson during Thursday's sentencing included his parents and Alliesheia Brown, Kasir's mother.
"Until you know the feeling ... I don't wish that on anybody," Brown said of her son's death.
Assistant District Attorney Nick Maskrey said Kasir's death was tragic. But he said that, instead of allowing the police to do their job in finding the boy's killers, Nicholson attempted to take justice into his own hands.
The only thing retaliation and vengeance got was the deaths of two people and Nicholson in jail for the rest of his foreseeable life, Maskrey said.
Contact Tim Hahn atthahn@timesnews.com. Follow him on Twitter@ETNhahn.
