Pottstown man pleads guilty to third-degree murder for killing a rival who allegedly threatened his family

A Pottstown man who investigators say has ties to a local gang pleaded guilty Tuesday to killing a former friend after a prolonged car chase through the streets of the borough in May 2022.

Tyshaun Harvey, 23, entered the plea to third-degree murder and possessing a gun without a license in the death of Nahmer Baird. At the time of the fatal shooting, Harvey was out on bail, charged with aggravated assault and related crimes, for shooting at a group of people during an argument in March 2021, court records show.

He pleaded guilty in that case last year, and is currently serving an 18-to-36-month sentence in state prison.

On May 29, 2022, Harvey was tailing Baird in his Chrysler 300, working to keep up with his onetime friend as he and a passenger police did not identify tried to avoid him, surveillance footage from the area showed.

But when Baird’s Nissan Sentra got stopped behind another car blocking Locust Alley near West Street, Harvey got out of his vehicle and opened fire, striking the Sentra multiple times, according to the affidavit of probable cause filed for his arrest. Some of those shots hit Baird, 22, who later died at Pottstown Hospital.

Montgomery County Detective Heather Long, who investigated Baird’s killing, testified at an unrelated trial in January 2022 that Harvey and Baird were both affiliated with “Bud Gang Bitch” or BGB, a rap group from Pottstown whose members have been arrested for drug and gun offenses.

In that trial, three BGB members, Jaquan Marquis Lee, Derrick Goins and Kyshan Scott Brinkley, were convicted of first-degree murder for planning and carrying out the execution-style murder of rival drug dealer Keith Robinson.

All three are serving life sentences in state prison.

Deputy District Attorney Samantha Cauffman confirmed Tuesday that Harvey and Baird had “bad blood” between them. She said that she would be seeking a “significant state sentence” for Harvey given his actions, regardless of what he said prompted them.

“He admitted to opening fire on another vehicle that had occupants inside, and by that action he knew or should’ve known he could’ve hit or killed someone inside,” she said. “And the fact is that’s what happened.”

Harvey’s attorney, Jack McMahon, said after Tuesday’s proceeding that by entering the plea, Harvey was showing remorse for his actions and accepting responsibility for the shooting. But he said his client had been provoked by Baird and the other man in the Sentra.

“My client had been tormented by these people for awhile prior to this situation occurring,” McMahon said, adding that the two had known each for some time. “They had threatened his mother, done things to him, threatened him.

“There were lots of mitigating circumstances as to why this happened, and I think that was taken into consideration by the Commonwealth,” he added.

The Sentra’s other occupant later told detectives that he had seen Harvey’s Chrysler 300 earlier that night, and that he and Baird had tried to avoid him, the affidavit said. When the Sentra stopped on Locust Alley, the man watched as Harvey ran toward them, firing a handgun.

The man told police he got out of the passenger’s seat and shot back at Harvey before hearing Baird say that he had been hit by gunfire. Baird attempted to drive away, but lost consciousness and crashed into another vehicle, according to the affidavit.

Harvey fled the scene, abandoning his car near his home in Pottstown, the affidavit said. He first traveled to Atlantic City, and then headed west, arrested three months later by the U.S. Marshals in a small town near the California-Nevada border.

His plea Tuesday spared him from a trial on first-degree murder and the mandatory life sentence that comes with a conviction.

Montgomery County Court Judge William Carpenter accepted the plea and will be sentencing Harvey in the coming weeks.