Girlfriend of Schuylkill River Trail killer faces jail for lying to grand jury, hindering his apprehension

NORRISTOWN — Signaling that lying to a grand jury is a serious crime and will not be tolerated, a judge said an Upper Gwynedd Township woman deserved a stint behind bars for helping her boyfriend flee after he took part in the gunshot slaying of a Reading man on the Schuylkill River Trail and for lying to a grand jury about his whereabouts during the investigation.

Brianna Rose Radley, 22, who listed addresses in the 1400 block of Oxford Circle in Upper Gwynedd, and in the 500 block of East Johnson Street, Philadelphia, was sentenced in Montgomery County Court to 9 to 23 months in the county jail on charges of perjury and conspiracy to hinder apprehension in connection with helping her boyfriend, Marquise Alexander Johnson, hide out at various locations after his involvement in the slaying and later giving false testimony to a grand jury investigating the homicide.

"The defendant's actions were egregious. I believe this defendant needs to go to prison," said Judge Thomas C. Branca, adding any lesser sentence would depreciate the seriousness of the crime. "I need to send a message to the community that it cannot happen."

The judge ordered Radley to report to the jail on Oct. 18 to begin serving the sentence. Radley also must complete two years of probation consecutive to parole, meaning she will be under court supervision for about four years.

Branca, who has been the supervising judge of the grand jury, said those who lie to the grand jury make the job of law enforcement officers more difficult as they try to solve crimes. Branca described it as "a constant battle for law enforcement."

Johnson, 24, also of the East Johnson Street address, was convicted, along with Cody Kavon Reed, 24, of Norristown, by a jury in June of charges of first-degree murder, conspiracy, possessing an instrument of crime and flight to avoid apprehension in connection with the 9 p.m. March 2, 2023, gunshot slaying of Daquan Kennard Tucker, 25, a former Reading resident, on the Schuylkill River Trail in West Norriton. Johnson and Reed are serving life prison terms.

Assistant District Attorney Kathleen Alane McLaughlin and county Detective Heather Long alleged Radley helped the men flee from the Norristown area after the killing and paid for several Airbnb bookings at locations in Pennsylvania and N.J. while the men were on the lam. The men weren't captured until April 6.

"I suspect in her warped way of thinking she thought she was helping these men. But it was a warped way of thinking," Branca said.

Before learning her fate, Radley, supported in court by about a dozen relatives and friends, appeared to apologize for her conduct.

"I think my mindset was immature and juvenile. I was being careless. I feel a lot of remorse for what I've done," Radley said.

Despite facing a jail sentence in a few days, Radley smiled as she left the courtroom after the hearing. Radley did not comment to a reporter about the sentence and tried to hide her face from the media as she left the courtroom.

McLaughlin argued for a jail sentence against Radley.

"This was not a momentary lapse of judgment. It was a series of consciously formed decisions. This was to protect a murderer. It was lie after lie, saying she didn't know where he was when she in fact was the one responsible for keeping him on the run," McLaughlin argued. "This is not a joke. This is extremely serious.

"Every step that she took she showed she had no respect for the justice system. She took an oath to testify truthfully and lied to each and every one of the grand jurors' faces. The oath meant nothing to her. She laughed in the face of that oath," McLaughlin added.

The judge rejected defense lawyer Lonny Fish's request for probation or house arrest for Radley.

"I think what she did was really foolish. She's wanted to accept responsibility. She doesn't sugarcoat anything," said Fish, who argued Radley got involved with men she shouldn't have been involved with and she made poor decisions to protect them at the expense of her good character.

The investigation determined that Radley picked up Reed and Johnson in Norristown within an hour of the homicide and transported them back to Radley and Johnson's residence in Philadelphia.

Cellphone data showed Johnson and Radley traveled to the Stroudsburg, Pa., area on March 6, 2023, according to court papers and testimony at the trial of Johnson and Reed.

But, two days later, during her March 8, testimony before an investigating grand jury, Radley lied when she said she didn't know the whereabouts of Johnson or Reed, prosecutors alleged.

Reed and Johnson fled from Norristown within two hours of Tucker's slaying and remained on the lam until April 6, 2023, when they were apprehended in Atlantic City by members of the U.S. Marshals Service and local police at an Airbnb on North Rhode Island Avenue.

Detectives determined Radley rented the Airbnb in Atlantic City. A review of Radley's Airbnb bookings also linked Radley to a March 6 rental in Stroudsburg, according to court documents.

"Radley's assistance began immediately following the homicide and continued until (the arrest of Johnson and Reed) in Atlantic City," Long, a former Pottstown detective, wrote in the arrest affidavit.

A second woman, Hailey Anne Covelens, 21, who previously listed addresses in the 300 block of West Marshall Street, Norristown, and the 1100 block of Beechwood Avenue, Lansdale, pleaded guilty in August to charges of perjury and conspiracy to hinder apprehension in connection with helping Reed hide out and later giving false testimony to the grand jury. Covelens faces a sentencing hearing in November.

With her guilty plea, Covelens admitted that she conspired with Radley to assist Reed and Johnson with their getaway after Tucker's homicide.

"Both Radley and Covelens were vague, non-committal and at times lied during their grand jury testimony," Long wrote in arrest documents. "Radley and Covelens supplied transportation, monetary funds and housing to Johnson and Reed, which allowed them to hide without detection for over a month."

Johnson and Reed were convicted of homicide charges in connection with what prosecutors said was their agreement to lure Tucker to a desolate and secluded section of the Schuylkill River Trail to kill him. Prosecutors pointed to cellphone data and video surveillance footage that indicated the three men were walking in the area of West Main and Chain streets in Norristown at 8:39 p.m. March 2, 2023, toward the trail where Tucker was ultimately killed.

Cellphone and video surveillance evidence depicted Reed and Johnson later walking away from the area of the trail without Tucker but in possession of Tucker's cellphone after he had been shot and killed.

The homicide investigation began about 9:03 a.m. March 3, when a citizen riding his bicycle along the Schuylkill River Trail on the border of Norristown and West Norriton called 911 to report seeing a body, subsequently identified as Tucker, in a wooded area between the trail and the Schuylkill River.

Tucker, a former Reading resident, had been staying with his girlfriend along Rogers Road in Lower Providence at the time of his death.