Man Who Killed 3 Bucks Co. Family Members Faces Life In Prison

LOWER BUCKS COUNTY, PA — The man who killed three family members during a rampage in Falls Township last year will spend the rest of his life in prison after negotiating a deal to avoid the death penalty, authorities said.

Andre Gordon Jr., 27, appeared in court Wednesday and pleaded guilty to three counts of premeditated murder under a negotiated agreement for killing his 52-year-old stepmother, Karen Gordon; 13-year-old sister, Kera Gordon; and Taylor Daniel, the mother of his two children, the Bucks County District Attorney's Office said.

Bucks County Common Pleas Judge Raymond McHugh accepted the plea and sentenced Gordon to three consecutive life sentences without parole. He will also serve 156 ½ to 312 years for related charges, including attempted murder, and a separate case of aggravated assault and disarming a law enforcement officer last June.

Authorities said that Gordon forcibly broke into one home and killed his 52-year-old stepmother, Karen Gordon, and 13-year-old sister, Kera Gordon, before going to another home and killing Taylor Daniel, the mother of his two children.

The surprise plea bargain was confirmed last week following months of intense negotiations between Chief Public Defender Niels Ericksen, Deputy Public Defender Melissa Hasanbelliu and Bucks County District Attorney Jennifer Schorn, who was prosecuting the case, the Bucks County Courier Times reported.

Schorn had said that she would seek the death penalty against Gordon due to the multiple first-degree murder charges, authorities said.

Last March, authorities said that Gordon forcibly broke into one home and killed his 52-year-old stepmother, Karen Gordon, and 13-year-old sister, Kera Gordon, before going to another home and killing Taylor Daniel, the mother of his two children.

The murders caused community lockdowns and also canceled the Bucks County St. Patrick's Day Parade that day.

He then held New Jersey police in a standoff in which he barricaded himself in a Trenton, N.J., home for several hours.

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Please see Patch for more details on the sentencing when they become available