20-Year-Old Mount Vernon Man Pleads In Murderous Crime Spree

MOUNT VERNON, NY — In an overnight crime spree in March of 2018, two men were involved in a series of incidents in the industrial and residential neighborhoods not far from the Mount Vernon West Metro North train station. It culminated when Donovan Brown, 24, was shot in the face and killed outside The Modern on South Macquesten Parkway early in the morning March 14.

This week Tasjawn “Tay” White pleaded guilty to Brown's murder, Westchester County District Attorney Anthony A. Scarpino, Jr. announced.

With pretrial hearings underway in Westchester County Court, Westchester County Court Judge George Fufidio presiding, the 20-year-old pleaded guilty to:

• Murder in the First Degree, a class A-1 felony
• Attempted Murder in the Second Degree, a class B violent felony
• Robbery in the First Degree, a class B violent felony

White is scheduled for sentencing Jan. 15.

Determined detective work by Mount Vernon police, with the help of video surveillance from security cameras throughout the area, allowed police and prosecutors to trace the steps taken by both White and Brown for several hours leading up to the shooting and immediately following it.

Cases against two others, Phillip Spearman and Pierre Mensah, are still pending. Prosecutors alleged that Mensah was with White through the night's incidents and that Spearman, Mensah's uncle, dealt with the stolen proceeds and the handgun. SEE: 3 Face 27 Charges In March Street Shooting.

White was initially charged not only with murder, attempted murder and robbery, but also assault, attempted assault, criminal possession of a weapon, grand larceny and possession of stolen property.

Mount Vernon Police Detectives led the investigation. Deputy District Attorney Perry Perrone, Chief of the Homicide Bureau, and Bureau Chief Assistant District Attorney Michelle Lopez of the Superior Court Trial Division prosecuted the case.