Brandon Bacote-Byer and Skylar Fox Obituary – Cause of Death: Two Pottstown teens killed in drug deal gone bad; Who is Dominic Carboni?
On Thursday, October 20, 2022, Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin R. Steele and Pottstown Police Chief Mick Markovich announced the arrest of Dominic Carboni, 17, of Schwenksville, for First-Degree Murder and Robbery charges stemming from the murders of 17-year-old Skyler Fox and 18-year-old Brandon Bacote-Byer in Pottstown.
According to the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office in a media release, the fatal shootings of Fox and Bacote-Byer occurred on Monday, Oct. 17, 2022, at 11:33 p.m.
Pottstown Police responded for multiple calls of shots fired in the area of Fourth and Johnson Streets. They arrived to find the two deceased victims lying by Fox’s vehicle. Police recovered numerous fired cartridge casings, one projectile and a Taurus G3 9 mm handgun with an obliterated serial number at the scene. Police did not recover a backpack from the scene. However, a witness told police that he/she observed Fox with a backpack on his shoulder as he crawled away from his vehicle, but minutes later, the witness said the backpack was gone and Fox was no longer moving.
The ensuing investigation by Pottstown Police and the Montgomery County Detective Bureau found that the defendant was meeting Fox to purchase marijuana. Recovered text data showed that Fox and Carboni had arranged the meeting and marijuana purchase through a series of messages throughout the day, beginning at 3:08 p.m. and ending at 11:22 p.m., just 11 minutes before the shooting when both Fox’s and Carboni’s cellphones were in the area of the shooting. Text records also showed that at 11:45 p.m. that same evening, just minutes after the shooting, Carboni deleted his messaging history with Fox.
Video surveillance recovered by police showed a maroon-colored Ford pick-up truck fleeing the area after the homicide, which is the same color and model as a Ford F-150 truck owned by the defendant’s father, which the defendant had been seen driving earlier in the evening.
“This is another senseless killing of two teenagers over drugs, committed by a 17-year-old defendant who, for a variety of reasons, could not legally possess a gun. It is a tragedy for these families, and it’s got to stop,” said DA Steele. “We are working diligently to go after people who buy guns and sell them to kids, sell them to convicted felons and sell them to others who can’t legally buy their own guns.”
Carboni was charged with two counts of First-Degree Murder, Second-Degree Murder, Third-Degree Murder and Robbery. He was arraigned tonight before Magisterial District Judge Patricia A. Zaffarano. There is no bail available for First-Degree Murder charges, and Carboni was remanded to the Montgomery County Juvenile Detention Center. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for 11 a.m., Nov. 3, 2022 before Magisterial District Judge Scott T. Palladino.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant District Attorneys Scott Frank Frame and Samantha Arena.
Leave a Reply