A Philadelphia police corporal fatally shot a teenager he was mentoring

As Chief of Police in Chester, Corporal Michael “Mike” Beverly has dedicated his life to protecting the residents of this Philadelphia suburb.

Tragically, on October 16, 2001, 36-year-old Beverly was shot and killed in Highland Gardens, a crime-ridden area of Chester, Pennsylvania, run by a notorious drug ring.

Todd Nuttall, a now-retired Chester police detective, recalled the killing of his friend and colleague. “It was very devastating,” he said Philly Homicide, airs every Saturday at 9:00 p.m Oxygen.

“You could tell someone was intent on making sure he was dead,” Nuttall added in the series’ End of View episode.

The fact that Beverly’s life ended in a brutal betrayal was even more shocking.

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Who was Michael Beverly?

Beverly, a Marine Corps veteran with a wife and five children, was born in Chester. His sister, Serena Lockett, remembered him as a “prankster” who set out to “do something good.”

After college, Beverly became a police officer. “Mike always wanted to be a mentor to kids in the community,” said his friend Darrell Rideout. “He was such a cop.”

Building connections helps the community. “Mike thought it was important to get these young kids to trust the police and not run away from us, but run to us if you need us,” said Dave Tyler, now retired from the Chester Police Department.

Corporal Michael Beverly starred in Philly Homicide Season 1 Episode 1

Michael Beverley’s ex-partner was also shot dead Highland Gardens

During a roll call on October 16, 2001, Beverly warned his squad to avoid Highland Gardens as officers searched for a suspect.

“It was very hot,” said Victor Heness, who was working as a patrol officer with the Chester Police Department at the time.

Beverly knew the dangers of the neighborhood. His best friend and former partner, Connie Hawkins, was killed in the line of duty in 1993 when she answered a call he couldn’t answer. Her death haunted him.

What happened to Michael Beverly?

On the night of October 16, 2001, an officer in Highland Gardens received a call. Beverley was found lying on his back in the street next to his car.

“The approach to the scene was a real horror,” said Geness. – We saw numerous bullet holes in his face as well as in his chest, and we knew he was already dead. But we still kept calling his name.”

The neighborhood was blocked off, and the crime scene was processed. Beverly’s family and friends were shocked. “It was a terrible day,” Lockett said.

Who are the Boyle Street Boys?

FBI Special Agent Raymond J. Carr, now retired, spoke to the Philly Homicide Squad about his reaction to Beverly’s murder. “I’m thinking, ‘I know who these SOBs are that did this,'” Carr said. “It was the Boyle Street Boys.”

A violent street gang had a monopoly on the sale of cocaine and controlled Highland Gardens. “They had no problem with … killing you,” Nuttall said.

Detectives believed Beverly went to Highland Gardens that evening because he was investigating the murder of Tracy Saunders, a young mother and federal witness.

Saunders was shot hours before she was to testify against one of the Boyle Street Boys in a federal gun case.

A confidential informant told Beverly that Brian Rogers, the leader of the gang, had hit her to stop her from talking, according to Philly’s homicide unit.

Chester police suspected that Rogers might also have killed Beverly, and they searched the area. No one spoke because they were afraid of the gang’s revenge.

After receiving a tip about his whereabouts, Rogers was questioned. He denied killing Saunders and Beverly, so he had to be released.

What Michael Beverley’s talks showed

After going through Beverly’s phone records, detectives learned the real reason he went to Highland Gardens. He received a call from the mother of Maurice Day, an 18-year-old boy he had mentored.

“She talked to him about keeping her son out of the gang,” he said Philly Homicide host Chris McMullenwho has decades of experience with various police departments in and around Philadelphia. Beverly stepped in to keep Day on track.

Beverly’s body was found near Day’s house. Day denied involvement in Beverly’s murder. He claimed that he was with his girlfriend at the time of the shooting. The young woman confirmed it. Deya was declared a suspect.

An informant’s tip led investigators to an abandoned building, where they found a .44-magnum revolver.

Beverly was found to have killed with a gun. No fingerprints or DNA evidence was found on the weapon.

A “radical” move to get people talking

Months passed, and the case stalled. As Highland Park was gripped by fear, the police faced a wall of silence.

“We understood that if you lived in this community, the price for cooperating with us was death,” said Faith Moore Taylor, a former assistant U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

Federal and state law enforcement agencies developed a “radical maneuver,” McMullin said.

They were “knocking on every door in the neighborhood and serving subpoenas to everybody that was there,” said now-retired DEA Special Agent Randy Updegraff.

Each witness was to appear in Philadelphia in a safe place where they could speak without fear.

“People were extremely happy that they could get lost in the crowd, and that was the goal,” Taylor said.

A break in the case

After 10 long months of interviews, the innovative strategy paid off. A witness identified Rogers as the man who killed Saunders. “It was an execution,” Carr said.

In a surprising twist, Rogers eventually surrendered. He admitted his role in Saunders’ murder and was arrested.

But he vehemently denied shooting Beverly and refused to name the officer’s killer, adhering to the street’s code of silence.

“It was always, ‘Don’t talk to the police.’ Whistleblowers get stitches,” Nuttall said.

Who Killed Chester Police Corporal Michael Beverley?

A year after Beverly’s murder, detectives continued to dig deeper. One of Nuttall’s sources told him that Maurice Day, a teenager whom Beverly had mentored, had confessed to him that he had killed the corporal.

Day was detained and taken for questioning. He denied murdering Beverly. Detectives re-interviewed Day’s girlfriend, who initially corroborated his alibi for the night of the murder. This time she admitted that he had not been with her all night.

When Day’s alibi fell apart, the woman came forward with an eyewitness account of Beverly’s murder. “She saw Maurice Day shoot and kill Michael Beverly,” Nuttall said.

“We subpoenaed everybody, and all of a sudden they stopped being afraid that these guys were going to hurt them,” Taylor said. “It was as successful as we could have hoped.”

Day was taken into custody, and investigators were investigating his motives. “Maurice Day would do anything to be a part of the Boyle Street Boys,” Tyler said.

In the weeks leading up to the trial, Rogers claimed that Day had previously admitted to killing Beverly. To avoid a life sentence for the murder of Tracy Saunders, Rogers agreed to testify against Day.

Maurice Day is guilty of murdering Michael Beverley

Day was found guilty of first degree murder. He was sentenced to life imprisonment without parole. Rogers was sentenced to 42 years in prison for Saunders’ murder.

“Ten more boys from Boyle Street received stiff prison terms on drug and weapons charges,” McMullen said. “The gang that terrorized Highland Gardens for so long is now gone.”

For more on these two murder cases, watch the episode “End of Watch”. Philly Homicidewhich airs every Saturday at 9:00 p.m Oxygen.