PENNSYLVANIA – A Philadelphia man was sentenced Friday to life in prison for his role in the Oct. 9, 2004, retaliatory firebombing that killed six members of a federal witness’s family, including four children, officials said.
Robert Merritt, 34, was convicted following a jury trial on May 13, 2013, of conspiracy to participate in a racketeering enterprise and the murders of the family members of a federal witness, Eugene Coleman.
At the direction of convicted drug kingpin Kaboni Savage, Merritt and his cousin, Lamont Lewis, participated in the firebombing of the Coleman family home in retaliation for Coleman’s testimony against Savage, officials said.
The evidence indicated that Merritt threw a gas can with a lit cloth fuse, and then a second gas can, into the occupied Philadelphia row house in the predawn hours of Oct. 9, 2004. Six people, including four children ranging in age from 15 months to 15 years, were killed in the ensuing fire.
Co-defendants Kaboni Savage and Kadida Savage were also convicted at the May 2013 trial of the firebombing. Kaboni Savage was sentenced to death for 12 counts of murder in aid of racketeering. Kidada Savage was sentenced to life in prison. Lamont Lewis, who pleaded guilty before trial, is awaiting sentencing, authorities said.