1 dead, 1 wounded in hail of gunfire outside Nazareth area Target

Nine months after one man was killed and another wounded in a shooting outside a Lehigh Valley Target, prosecutors announced one suspect has been arrested and one is on the run.

Jakiye Taylor, 18, and Kevin Littles, 22, both of Harrisburg, are facing homicide, robbery, and related charges in connection with the Aug. 8 shootings in Lower Nazareth Township, Northampton County District Attorney Terry Houck announced at a Friday morning news conference.

Taylor arraigned Thursday in his case and is being held in Monroe County prison without bail, but Littles is a fugitive on the run, Houck said.

Littles is considered armed and dangerous; Houck said he didn’t believe Littles was in the immediate county area. If you have information about Littles’ whereabouts, contact Colonial Regional police at 610-861-4820.

“We have a lot of people looking for him,” including other police departments and agencies like the U.S. Marshals, Houck said. “They’ll get him. I’m 100% confident they’ll get him.”

Elijah Johnson, 20, was killed in the Aug. 8 shootings in the parking lot of the busy Lower Nazareth Commons shopping center. Houck said it was Littles who killed Johnson, shooting him multiple times including in the head while they were in a car.

Jayzell Avery Sanders, 23, wounded in the right shoulder in the melee, was found bleeding in front of the Target store with a blood stain on the store’s wall and his gun in a nearby parking spot, police previously said. Taylor is accused of wounding Sanders.

This is Kevin Littles - the suspect on the run. He is considered armed and dangerous pic.twitter.com/iwtZeulKzW

Houck said the deadly shooting was during a drug deal for marijuana that turned into a robbery, and it was steadfast police work that led investigators to the suspects.

“This was an exhaustive nine-month investigation,” with Colonial Regional and Pennsylvania State police, and county detectives, Houck said. “There was never a respite...the police never stopped working on this. Although a horrible and tragic event, I believe at this point we’re closer to justice being served in this case.”

Johnson’s mother and other family and friends were in the courthouse Friday for the announcement of the charges.

Sanders previously told police he and Johnson, who are both from Monroe County, were meeting two men that day.

A later search of Sanders’ cellphone showed a message from Johnson that he was meeting people from Harrisburg that he did not know, and he asked Sanders to come with him.

Johnson reportedly said they were meeting the men at Crossings Premium Outlets in Monroe County, but when Johnson picked up Sanders, he instead drove to the Target off of Route 248.

Sanders, who was armed with a .22-caliber handgun, said as Johnson was driving he was communicating on his cellphone with the people they were meeting. Johnson’s Snapchat records showed he was planning to meet two men to sell five pounds of marijuana for $9,240.

It was a clear and sunny Sunday afternoon, and the parking lot full of shoppers would eventually be replaced by cop cars and yellow crime scene tape.

Sanders told police Johnson drove him in a Buick Regal and parked in the back of the parking lot between Target and a Burlington store. They met two males, later identified as Littles and Taylor, who arrived in a car but got into the backseat of the Buick.

It was at that time that Sanders determined Johnson was there to sell drugs, specifically a black bag that was in the truck that he believed had marijuana inside, according to court papers. Sanders got the bag out of the trunk and sat back in the front passenger seat.

When the bag was given to the two men in the back, they each pulled out handguns, court paperwork says. One of the men had a tattoo of a pyramid or a triangle on his right hand, according to Sanders; police said Taylor has a tattoo with the words “RIP Douch” on his hand that resembles a pyramid or triangle.

Johnson wrestled with one of the men, who asked if he “really want to die over this?” according to authorities.

Sanders got out of the car and started to run toward the front of the Target, when he heard several gunshots. One of the men had gotten out of the car and was firing toward Sanders, and Sanders told investigators he fired back at them with his .22-caliber pistol.

While running to the front of the store, Sanders put the pistol under a car parked in the lot. Video surveillance showed Sanders running and shooting the handgun back toward the Buick, police said.

Police found Sanders first. Police were then alerted to a second victim, Johnson, who had multiple gunshot wounds and fell out of the passenger side of the black Buick sedan, according to witnesses.

A witness reported seeing a gunman firing outside of the Buick and then get into the driver’s side of a Chevrolet Malibu. A second man walked away from the Buick and got into the front passenger seat, and the car took off, according to the witness.

Police processed a large crime scene that included multiple cars including Johnson’s vehicle, Sanders’ handgun, Johnson’s cellphone, two projectiles and several .22-caliber, 9mm and .45-caliber shell casings, Houck said.

Police said they found casings, a vacuum-sealed bag of one pound of marijuana, and a bag of wipes in Johnson’s car. DNA from the casings and the bag of wipes would link Littles and Taylor to being inside Johnson’s car, investigators said.

Johnson’s cellphone revealed text messages with a person to sell a large quantity of marijuana, prosecutors said. The phone number was used by Littles, and was registered to his mother, investigators said. Police said they learned Littles contacted another man via Snapchat to buy marijuana, and the man put Littles in touch with Johnson.

Littles was arrested on Aug. 18 in an unrelated case in Dauphin County. He was driving a black Malibu registered to his sister, and Taylor and another man were inside the car, police said.

Investigators found one pound of marijuana, a .45-caliber Glock handgun, .45-caliber ammunition, 9 mm ammunition and a drum magazine for a 9mm firearm inside the Malibu.

Littles was charged with carrying a firearm without a license, disorderly conduct and criminal mischief in the Dauphin County case, and was free after posting $30,000 bail, court records show. The attorney representing Littles in the Dauphin case declined to comment.

DNA was taken from Taylor in January, and his DNA is a “potential contributor” to DNA taken from the .45-caliber cartridge casings found at the crime scene, investigators said. DNA was taken from Littles in March, and his DNA could be included as a contributor to DNA found on the wipes package found in Johnson’s car, police said.

Authorities have Littles’ car, but said they have not found the gun they say Taylor used in the shooting.

Sanders has his own criminal charges from the day, and is awaiting trial on counts of carrying a firearm without a license and reckless endangerment. He has been free on bail since Oct. 5, when he was able to post 10% of $150,000.

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Sarah Cassi may be reached at scassi@lehighvalleylive.com.

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