Da'Ron Cox Legal Defense Fund
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Seeking Justice for an Innocent Man
DCLDF ~ P.O. Box 61292, King of Prussia, PA 19406 ~ 610-354-0863
The officer who persuaded Mr. Roberts to snitch told homicide detectives
that Mr. Cephas was a likely suspect. No one implicated Da'Ron Cox,
18, or even placed him at the scene.
Fourteen days later, a young man incarcerated at Shuman Juvenile
Detention Center, in exchange for money and freedom, told police he
saw Mr. Cox commit the murder. Police used the statement to extract a
confession from the kid known on the streets as "Chicken."
Mr. Cox has said ever since that he didn't kill Mr. Roberts and never
confessed. He is serving a life sentence.
The interrogation
Mr. Cox says he was interrogated from 7 p.m. until 1:30 a.m. without
counsel while shackled to the ground. Police recorded only the final few
minutes, so there is no record to confirm or refute Mr. Cox's account.
"I kept telling them I was with my girlfriend in Penn Hills and they kept
telling me they knew I did it and that they had me red-handed," said Mr.
Cox. His girlfriend said she spent Friday nights during that period with
Mr. Cox but couldn't remember that specific evening.
City detectives Robert McCabe, now deceased, and Dennis Logan, now
an investigator for the Allegheny County District Attorney's Office, took
turns playing good cop, bad cop, Mr. Cox said.
Detective Logan refused to comment.
"They started telling me they knew I wasn't a violent person because
they pulled my juvenile record and they knew I never carried a gun so
[they told me] it would be real easy to get me off if I confessed," he said.
When Mr. Cox refused to admit the killing, he said, detectives told him
they could make this into a "self-defense thing," charging him with
manslaughter, which carries a minimum two-year sentence. He decided
to cut his losses.
"When you live the lifestyle that I was living you become conditioned to
do time. You know you'll eventually go to jail and I was just thinking two
years and I'll put it behind me," he said.
Conflicting statements
The Shuman Center informant claimed he saw Mr. Cox shoot the victim
at close range in the chest. In his "confession," Mr. Cox also told police
he fired six shots into Mr. Robert's chest, but from a distance.
Mr. Roberts was shot in the back.
At the July 1997 trial, police denied manipulating the young Mr. Cox to
get a confession. Detective McCabe could not account for the conflict
between the physical evidence and the statements of both Mr. Cox and
the informant.
On the witness stand, Mr. Cox denied involvement, claiming he
confessed after hours of questioning because he was promised a short
prison term if he did and was led to fear the death penalty if he didn't.
After a three-day trial, Mr. Cox was convicted and sentenced to life in
prison without parole.
"When I heard the judge say I was guilty I was not surprised. There was
a lady on the jury I made eye contact with. She nodded at me before
they went to deliberate like everything would be OK, but when she came
out crying, I just looked at my mom and said, 'That's how the cookie
crumbles,' " said Cox.
Post-trial revelations
After the trial, several men signed affidavits stating that they knew Mr.
Cox had not been at the murder scene and that Mr. Roberts was killed
because of his dispute with Mr. Cephas. Mr. Cephas himself was
murdered in 1997.
Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge Jeffrey Manning denied an
appeal at that point.
Then another man signed an affidavit swearing that the Shuman Center
informant, the only eyewitness against Mr. Cox, had actually been with
him at the time of the killing and could not have seen anything. The
informant was gunned down in 1999.
Since then, yet another man has sworn that he saw Mr. Cephas kill Mr.
Roberts.
Ten years later, Mr. Cox remains the sole surviving suspect in this string
of retaliatory street gang killings. He says he had nothing to do with Mr.
Robert's death or any of the others. The only remaining evidence against
him, he says, is his own alleged confession.
"I just hope that one day someone will see that the whole situation was
not right and lets me out," he says.
Mr. Cox's attorney is preparing a final appeal to federal court.
that Mr. Cephas was a likely suspect. No one implicated Da'Ron Cox,
18, or even placed him at the scene.
Fourteen days later, a young man incarcerated at Shuman Juvenile
Detention Center, in exchange for money and freedom, told police he
saw Mr. Cox commit the murder. Police used the statement to extract a
confession from the kid known on the streets as "Chicken."
Mr. Cox has said ever since that he didn't kill Mr. Roberts and never
confessed. He is serving a life sentence.
The interrogation
Mr. Cox says he was interrogated from 7 p.m. until 1:30 a.m. without
counsel while shackled to the ground. Police recorded only the final few
minutes, so there is no record to confirm or refute Mr. Cox's account.
"I kept telling them I was with my girlfriend in Penn Hills and they kept
telling me they knew I did it and that they had me red-handed," said Mr.
Cox. His girlfriend said she spent Friday nights during that period with
Mr. Cox but couldn't remember that specific evening.
City detectives Robert McCabe, now deceased, and Dennis Logan, now
an investigator for the Allegheny County District Attorney's Office, took
turns playing good cop, bad cop, Mr. Cox said.
Detective Logan refused to comment.
"They started telling me they knew I wasn't a violent person because
they pulled my juvenile record and they knew I never carried a gun so
[they told me] it would be real easy to get me off if I confessed," he said.
When Mr. Cox refused to admit the killing, he said, detectives told him
they could make this into a "self-defense thing," charging him with
manslaughter, which carries a minimum two-year sentence. He decided
to cut his losses.
"When you live the lifestyle that I was living you become conditioned to
do time. You know you'll eventually go to jail and I was just thinking two
years and I'll put it behind me," he said.
Conflicting statements
The Shuman Center informant claimed he saw Mr. Cox shoot the victim
at close range in the chest. In his "confession," Mr. Cox also told police
he fired six shots into Mr. Robert's chest, but from a distance.
Mr. Roberts was shot in the back.
At the July 1997 trial, police denied manipulating the young Mr. Cox to
get a confession. Detective McCabe could not account for the conflict
between the physical evidence and the statements of both Mr. Cox and
the informant.
On the witness stand, Mr. Cox denied involvement, claiming he
confessed after hours of questioning because he was promised a short
prison term if he did and was led to fear the death penalty if he didn't.
After a three-day trial, Mr. Cox was convicted and sentenced to life in
prison without parole.
"When I heard the judge say I was guilty I was not surprised. There was
a lady on the jury I made eye contact with. She nodded at me before
they went to deliberate like everything would be OK, but when she came
out crying, I just looked at my mom and said, 'That's how the cookie
crumbles,' " said Cox.
Post-trial revelations
After the trial, several men signed affidavits stating that they knew Mr.
Cox had not been at the murder scene and that Mr. Roberts was killed
because of his dispute with Mr. Cephas. Mr. Cephas himself was
murdered in 1997.
Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge Jeffrey Manning denied an
appeal at that point.
Then another man signed an affidavit swearing that the Shuman Center
informant, the only eyewitness against Mr. Cox, had actually been with
him at the time of the killing and could not have seen anything. The
informant was gunned down in 1999.
Since then, yet another man has sworn that he saw Mr. Cephas kill Mr.
Roberts.
Ten years later, Mr. Cox remains the sole surviving suspect in this string
of retaliatory street gang killings. He says he had nothing to do with Mr.
Robert's death or any of the others. The only remaining evidence against
him, he says, is his own alleged confession.
"I just hope that one day someone will see that the whole situation was
not right and lets me out," he says.
Mr. Cox's attorney is preparing a final appeal to federal court.
Gangland Violence Snares Cox, But Did Police Get the
Right Man?
Case Shows How A Questionable Confession Trumps
Lies and Contradictions Every Time
Right Man?
Case Shows How A Questionable Confession Trumps
Lies and Contradictions Every Time
Post Gazzette Article September 1, 2006
Press...
By Cynthia Levy, Special to the Post-Gazette
PITTSBURGH -In November 1996 Brian Roberts pointed an automatic
weapon at a police officer and was arrested. He was carrying 34 rocks of
crack cocaine. He walked free after telling police the gun and drugs
belonged to Roland Cephas.
PITTSBURGH -In November 1996 Brian Roberts pointed an automatic
weapon at a police officer and was arrested. He was carrying 34 rocks of
crack cocaine. He walked free after telling police the gun and drugs
belonged to Roland Cephas.
Ten days later, as Mr.
Roberts stood on Sterrett
Street in Homewood, a man
in a black coat, scull cap
and blue jeans shot him
twice, chased him into an
alley, pumped two more
bullets into him,
pistol-whipped him and left
him to die.
