Kaboni Savage
Kaboni Savage is an American drug dealer, organized crime leader, and murderer who is currently on federal death row for ordering the firebombing of a house where a federal witness lived, killing six people. He is the first man from Philadelphia, in modern history, to receive a federal death sentence. He has twelve convictions for murder, one fewer than the Pennsylvania state record, and the most for anyone in Philadelphia. Savage was the first person sentenced to death by the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania since the federal death penalty resumed in 1988.
History
Savage, a former student of Frankford High School, began boxing at the Front Street Gym in North Philadelphia. He had one professional boxing fight, which he won.Savage began his operations as a drug dealer in Hunting Park and became a higher-level dealer. According to federal authorities, Savage, from 1998 to around 2004 had distributed hundreds of kilograms of cocaine in the Philadelphia area.
Authorities accused Savage of personally killing a stranger, Kenneth Lassiter, after Lassiter's car bumped into Savage's while the two were trying to park their respective cars. Savage was acquitted of Lassiter's murder after the lead witness in the case, Tybius "Tib" Flowers, was also murdered. Savage is suspected of ordering Flowers's murder.
Savage ordered the deaths of others. On Savage's orders, a hit man, Lamont Lewis, shot drug dealer Carlton Brown, a competitor of Savage, in 2001. Savage had ordered five other deaths of adult men. Savage engaged in multiple attempts at intimidation while held at Federal Detention Center, Philadelphia. While there he threatened to kill children of those who testified against him.
Less than one week after he was acquitted in the Lassiter case, Savage was arrested and accused of heading a drug trafficking network. Savage received a 30-year prison sentence for his drug trafficking activities. Savage was convicted of multiple charges, including money laundering, witness intimidation, and drug offenses. Savage was imprisoned in a federal facility near Florence, Colorado.
Savage's daughter, Ciara "CeCe" Savage, died at age 9 during a gang shooting in York, Pennsylvania. She was a student at Ross Elementary School. Police and Jasmine Vadell, Ciara's mother, stated that the shooting was unrelated to Savage's gang activities in Philadelphia. Vadell had raised Ciara by herself and had not been romantically involved with Savage for years.
Firebombing
Eugene "Twin" Coleman, who was previously working with Savage, agreed to testify against Savage in a drug trial. Coleman was arrested and put in federal custody on October 8, 2004. In March 2003, Coleman had murdered his friend, 26-year-old Tyrone Toliver of Cherry Hill, New Jersey. Federal agents asked Coleman's 54-year-old mother, Marcella Coleman, a prison guard at the Curran-Fromhold Correctional Facility, to move to a new house; she refused, believing that she could defend herself. Savage was convicted partly due to Coleman's testimony.In return Savage ordered the house of Coleman's mother in North Philadelphia to be burned down. At the time Savage was in custody at FDC Philadelphia. At about 5 a.m. on October 9, 2004, the rowhouse was firebombed. The fire originated in a living room on the first floor, traveled quickly, and was extinguished after about 20 minutes. There were no survivors; it was the deadliest mass murder in Philadelphia since the Lex Street murders in 2000. Included in the death toll were Coleman's 15-month-old son Damir Jenkins, his mother Marcella Coleman, three other youths — 10-year-old Khadjah Nash, 12-year-old Tahj Porchea, and 15-year-old Sean Rodriguez — who were related to Coleman, and 34-year-old Tameka Nash, Coleman's cousin and the mother of Khadjah Nash. The family dog, a pit bull, also perished.
Savage's sister, Kidada Savage, known as "Da" or "Lil' Sis", helped plot this crime by recruiting Lamont Lewis, the hitman.
Lewis had been previously acquitted of killing Carlton "Muhammad" Brown, who died in 2001. Lewis in turn asked Robert "B.J." Merritt, Jr., his cousin, to help him. Kidada Savage showed the hitman where the house was located. According to federal prosecutors Merritt was the one who lit a gasoline can and threw one and another one into the house. Lewis said that both he and Merritt tossed cans into the house.
Lewis stated that he did not know children were in the house until after they died, and that Kidada Savage only gave him $2,000 even though she promised him $5,000. After authorities captured Lewis he agreed to cooperate.
Coleman stated that Dawud "Cool" Bey, another drug dealer who was communicating with Savage while being held at FDC Philadelphia, told him that Savage wanted his family dead.
Police did not find Lewis at a house in West Philadelphia which they believed was his, but later arrested him in 2007 when he was driving his car.
Trials and sentencing
Savage was held at FDC Philadelphia during his trial.Jury selection for Savage's trial occurred in September 2012. Lamont Lewis served as the star witness, testifying against Kaboni and Kidada Savage as well as Merritt and Steven Northington. The trial ended in May 2013. On May 13, 2013, Savage was convicted of 12 counts of murder in aid of racketeering as well as one count each of the following crimes: conspiracy to commit murder in aid of racketeering, conspiracy to participate in a racketeering enterprise, and retaliating against a witness by murder.
In June 2013, Savage was given 13 death sentences, one for witness intimidation and one each for a total of 12 murders, including those from the retaliatory firebombing. The sentences were formally pronounced by Judge Richard Barclay Surrick.
Savage, Federal Bureau of Prisons# 58232-066, is currently incarcerated in ADX Florence near Florence, Colorado.
In May 2013, Kidada Savage was convicted of various crimes, including retaliating against witnesses and aiding racketeering. In February 2014, Surrick imposed a sentence of life imprisonment plus a consecutive ten-year sentence; the life sentence was mandatory. Kidada Savage tried to delay the sentencing but Surrick denied the request.Kidada is now BOP #04867-748 at FCI Tallahassee.
Merritt was given a life sentence as BOP #59317-066 at USP Terre Haute. Lewis was given a 40-year prison sentence. Northington received a life sentence as BOP #58967-066 at USP Coleman I.