Savage guilty in 2004 firebombing that killed 6

NOTORIOUS drug lord Kaboni Savage and his younger sister were found guilty yesterday of ordering the deadly 2004 firebombing of a federal informant's North Philadelphia home that killed six people, including four kids.

Savage, 38, and his sister, Kidada Savage, 30, were found guilty on six counts of murder in aid of racketeering for the bombing, which torched the house on 6th Street near Allegheny Avenue, where relatives of Savage-associate-turned-government witness Eugene Coleman lived.

Savage, who is already serving a 30-year sentence for drug trafficking, also was convicted yesterday of six other murders between 1998 and 2004. He and a co-defendant could face the death penalty.

Assistant U.S. Attorney David Troyer, who prosecuted the case, said yesterday that he was "very gratified and pleased that the jury saw the evidence the way that they did."

Troyer said he couldn't predict whether any of the defendants will be sentenced to death.

"We'll put up our case, and it's up to the jury to decide," he said.

The verdict all but ends a years-long saga surrounding Kaboni Savage, a notoriously violent drug lord who ran a multimillion-dollar drug enterprise based in North Philadelphia between 1997 and 2010.

Savage ordered the murders of Coleman's relatives after he was indicted on drug charges in 2004, federal prosecutors said. Kidada Savage then handed the order down to Lamont Lewis, who already pleaded guilty to committing the firebombing.

Killed in the Oct. 4, 2004, firebombing were: Marcella Coleman, 54; Tameka Nash, 34; Tajh Porchea, 12; Khadijah Nash, 10; Damir Jenkins, 15 months; and Sean Anthony Rodriguez, 15.

The jury, which deliberated for a week, also found Kaboni Savage guilty of the murders of Kenneth Lassiter, 44; Mansur "Shafiq"Abdullah, 22; Carlton "Mohammed" Brown, 27; Barry Parker, 32; Tyrone Toliver, 26; and Tybius Flowers, 32.

Along with the Savages, Robert Merritt, 32, and Steven Northington, 41, were both also convicted of racketeering charges. Northington was found guilty of two counts of murder in aid of racketeering.

Both Kaboni Savage and Northington now face the possibility of the death penalty for the murder charges, while Kaboni and Kidada Savage each face a mandatory minimum of life in prison for the Coleman killings. Though Merritt was acquitted of charges related to the firebombing, he could face a life sentence for racketeering conspiracy, prosecutors said.

The penalty phase of the case is scheduled to begin in federal court Monday.