A man who killed 3 relatives during a rampage in suburban Philadelphia gets life sentence

DOYLESTOWN, Pa. (AP) — A man who killed his stepmother, sister and the mother of his children during a rampage in suburban Philadelphia last year has been sentenced to three consecutive life terms.

Bucks County prosecutors had said they would seek the death penalty for Andre Gordon, 27, who pleaded guilty Wednesday to three counts of first-degree murder and other related counts. However, District Attorney Jennifer Schorn said she reconsidered that decision after receiving input from the victims’ families.

Authorities say it’s still not clear what sparked the March 2024 rampage that extended through two states. It began when Gordon carjacked a vehicle in Trenton, New Jersey and drove to Levittown in Falls Township, Pennsylvania, where he killed his stepmother and sister.

Gordon then drove to a second home in Levittown and killed the mother of his two young daughters while the children hid a short distance away. He also injured his children’s grandmother by bludgeoning her with a rifle.

Gordon then carjacked a second vehicle in Morrisville and returned to Trenton, authorities said. Police surrounded a home for hours in the belief that he was there, but Gordon apparently slipped out before a cordon went up. He was arrested, unarmed, when he was spotted walking down a street a few blocks away.

Besides the three life terms, Gordon was also sentenced Wednesday to an additional 156 1/2 to 313 years for burglary, robbery, and other crimes he committed on the day of the attack and subsequent attacks on corrections officers at the county jail.