A Bucks County jury convicted 31-year-old Dominique Isaac Harris, of Philadelphia, on Thursday for killing a former co-worker last year in Bensalem Township.
He was found guilty of first-degree murder and possession of an instrument of crime. The jury deliberated for about two hours before returning with the verdict. Sentencing was deferred to a later date.
During the four-day trial before Common Pleas Judge Raymond F. McHugh, Chief Deputy District Attorney Kristin McElroy outlined to the jury the brutality of Harris’ killing of Michael Pickens, a former co-worker at a Wendy’s restaurant in Bensalem.
Just before the end of his shift in the early hours of March 30, 2022, Pickens was taking the trash out when he was confronted by Harris, who was lying in wait. Harris had been fired from Wendy’s two months earlier after a fight with Pickens, McElroy told jurors. In a vicious attack that lasted several minutes, Harris chased Pickens down the street, catching him in the parking lot of a nearby beverage store. There, Harris repeatedly stabbed Pickens, 54, of Bensalem, who tried valiantly to fight off his armed attacker.
“Dominique Harris was unrelenting, this was personal,” McElroy told the jury during closing arguments.
An autopsy later showed that Pickens was stabbed 46 times, with more than half to his head and neck area and some so deep that they pierced his lung, McElroy said. Harris fled the scene after the stabbing, leaving Pickens bleeding out on the parking lot, and for the next eight minutes, he fought for his life, attempting to get up or crawl to safety.
“But Michael Pickens’ will to live could not overcome the defendant’s will to kill,” McElroy said.
Harris returned to the parking lot in his car and ran Pickens over twice. After the second time, Harris got out of the car, loaded Pickens into the backseat and dumped his body a few miles away.
In closing arguments, McElroy urged jurors to find Harris guilty of first-degree murder.
“All these actions show the defendant’s willful, deliberate intent to kill Michael Pickens,” she said.
McElroy commended the meticulous and thorough work of detectives with the Bensalem Police Department and the Bucks County District Attorney’s Office, who made an arrest within 24 hours of the brutal attack being committed.
The investigation began with an 8:43 a.m. 911 call on March 30, 2022, after an employee with Bensalem Beer and Soda, 1919 Street Road, arrived to work and found a large amount of blood in the parking lot. Also located were various personal items that included blood-stained clothing, a cellphone and a Wendy’s restaurant hat. Detectives reviewed surveillance footage that showed a male actor chasing and stabbing a male victim repeatedly with a knife in the parking lot at 1:41 a.m. After stabbing the victim several times, the attacker fled the scene, and the victim was left severely injured and lying in the parking lot.
A short time later, a person driving a silver four-door Infiniti entered the parking lot and twice ran over the victim, the surveillance footage showed. The driver then got out of the vehicle, picked up the victim and placed him in the back seat of the Infiniti and drove away, the footage showed. The surveillance footage was played during the trial.
Through the investigation, detectives identified Pickens as the possible victim in the attack and discovered that he previously had been involved in a fight with Harris. Detectives also learned that Harris owned a silver Infiniti. The vehicle was entered into the National Crime Information Center database and later that night, Philadelphia Police spotted the vehicle and conducted a traffic stop.
Harris was behind the wheel. During the stop, police observed blood outside the vehicle and a large amount of blood in the backseat, but did not locate the victim. Harris had his right hand bandaged with gauze, concealing a large cut. Harris was arrested that night.
The next morning, Bensalem Police discovered Pickens’ body dumped in the area of the Cornwells Heights Train Station Park and Ride, about two miles from where the attack occurred. A jacket Harris had been wearing during the attack was covering him. Forensic evidence matching both the victim and defendant was found at the beverage center parking lot, inside the vehicle and the train station.
The Bensalem Police Department and the Bucks County District Attorney’s Office investigated this case, with the assistance of the Philadelphia Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. McElroy prosecuted this case.
