Murder Suspect Pernell McBride Arraigned in Superior Court

Norwalk resident Pernell McBride was arraigned in state Superior Court in Norwalk Tuesday afternoon charged with murder.

Police accuse McBride of the shooting death of Monterey Village resident John R. "Debo" Alston on May 23 in the driveway of a residence in South Norwalk.

According to police, Norwalk detectives and members of the U.S. Marshall's Service in Connecticut and New York followed various leads provided by the community, resulting in the arrest of McBride on May 31. He was found at the home of a relative in Harlem, they said.

McBride is 48 years old and a resident of 39 Suncrest Rd.

After his arrest, Pernell fought being extradicted back to Connecticut, but according to a news release issued on Monday by Detective Bureau commander Lt. Timothy J. Murphy, on June 28 Pernnell waived extradiction during a hearing in a New York court.

During McBride's arraignment Tuesday, a representative from the state Bail Commissioner's office said McBride was last arrested in 1989, charged with possession of a controlled substance and possession of a handgun. He said McBride has resided in Connecticut for eight years and has never been arrested in the state.

Hudock held McBride's bond at $1 million and transferred his case to Part A in Superior Court in Stamford where serious felonies are prosecuted.

In an affidavit Norwalk Det. Rafael Fonseca Jr. prepared to obtain an arrest warrant for McBride, he said a woman named Zina Russell told an investigator Alston was shot as a result of him calling her a vulgarity referring to her vagina, and saying, "you need to go somewhere and go to sleep."

She said she told her brother, Edwin Russell, about the insult, and on May 23 he confronted Alston in front of a store on Merritt Place and told him to stop disrespecting his sister. Alston, according to the affidavit, became belligerent and told Russell he was going to get someone to "kick your ass."

Their exchange of words reportedly resulted in Russell and at least three other men, including McBride, confronting Alston twice later in the day in front of a multi-family residence at 119 South Main St., according to witnesses who spoke with police.

Zina said McBride is the brother of Edwin Russell's wife, Jeanette McBride.

In the first instance, Russell repeated he wanted Alston to stop disrespecting his sister. The men were about to come to blows, according to Temple D. Banks, a resident at the address who spoke to police, but she said was able to intervene and the men left.

At about 3 p.m., according to witnesses, the men returned and this time a fistfight ensued.

Banks' daughter, Kaiyana Banks, told police she was in her mother's bedroom when she heard a commotion in the driveway. She said she observed four men who were there to jump Alston, but her mother told them "this is not gonna happen."

Kaiyana said the men walked to the end of the driveway, then turned around again approached Alston. One of the men began cursing at Temple Banks, and Kaiyana said she stepped between him and her mother, telling him, "You're not going to disrespect my mother."

A fistfight broke out and one of the men, according to Kaiyana, pulled a handgun out of his pocket and shot Alston.

A female driver traveling north on South Main St. told police she was stopped at a red light at the intersection of South Main and Concord streets when she looked over and saw a man being shot. Police said she later selected a photo of McBride as the shooter.

Police said Temple Banks also selected a photo of McBride, saying she was 60 percent confident he was the shooter. Her daughter, Kaiyana, selected a photo of McBride, saying she was 50 percent confident he was the shooter, according to the affidavit.

Alston's death was the second homicide in Norwalk this year. On Feb. 3, 20-year-old Joseph Baeman was shot to death on a walkway behind the Avalon Norwalk apartments on Belden Avenue. The investigation of that incident continues.

Pernell is scheduled to appear in court in Stamford July 17.