Pair plead guilty in
murder of Frankford man

By Tom Waring
Times Staff Writer

Josephine Rowen spoke to Tyrik Floyd last week from the witness stand.
Floyd, 21, of West Philadelphia, had just pleaded guilty to third-degree murder and possessing an instrument of crime in the death of James Rowen, Josephine’s 25-year-old son.
Mrs. Rowen recalled how her son would always come over to her house in the morning for a cigarette and coffee. He liked to golf, fish and play pool. He was a family-oriented man who worked hard fixing up his house in Frankford.
Calling him "a very special young man" and "the sunshine of my life," Rowen told Floyd that he should have gotten to know him.
"You would have never pulled out a gun and shot him," she said.
Floyd, in custody since September 2004, accepted a negotiated plea between Assistant District Attorney MK Feeney and his lawyer, Brian McMonagle. He was sentenced by Common Pleas Court Judge Jane Cutler Greenspan to 10 to 40 years in prison on the murder charge and a concurrent two-to-five-year sentence for possessing an instrument of crime.
Also sentenced on April 26 was Tiffany Golden, Floyd’s cousin. Golden, represented by Tariq El-Shabazz, pleaded guilty to criminal conspiracy.
A West Philadelphia resident who’ll turn 29 on Monday, she was sentenced to four to eight years in prison. She’s been in custody since December 2004.
Neither Floyd nor Golden spoke when the judge gave them the chance.
"The lack of remorse was pretty shocking," Feeney said.
The murder took place at about 10 p.m. on Aug. 24, 2004, on the 5400 block of Saul St., where Rowen lived.
Jules Kennedy complained to Patricia Turner that her children were destroying his property and that of Rowen, his next-door neighbor. One of Turner’s children had also supposedly swung a plastic baseball bat at other children, knocking Kennedy’s daughter to the ground.
The argument escalated, and Kennedy had a fistfight with the father of one of Turner’s children.
"S—- like that will get you killed," Golden told Kennedy.
Next, a man believed to be Floyd hit Kennedy in the head with a hard object. Then, Rowen began struggling with Floyd and suffered a fatal gunshot wound to the chest.
Testimony at the preliminary hearing showed that Golden and Turner — who are lovers — were laughing at the turn of events.
A high school dropout who has a child and worked at McDonald’s before his arrest, Floyd could serve up to 80 percent of his maximum 40-year sentence.
Golden, who worked in the food department of the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, faces a court date in Chester County because she was on probation for robbery when Rowen was killed.
Lori Maneely, the sister of Rowen’s fiancee, used her testimony to ask God to give Floyd a conscience. She and the rest of Rowen’s family supported the plea bargain.
"At least it will bring justice for my Jimmy," she said.
Jamie Maneely, Rowen’s fiancee, has moved to Port Richmond since the incident.
She described Rowen, a steamfitter, as a "good man" whose death brought 1,000 mourners to his funeral. She misses him greatly.
"My life will never be the same," she said.
Maneely read a statement from her 9-year-old daughter, Paige Milio, who expressed fear after Rowen’s murder.
"I was afraid Tyrik would shoot me, too," she said.
Paige fondly recalled going fishing and swimming with Rowen and burying him under the sand at the beach.
"I love and miss Jimmy Rowen," she said. ••
Reporter Tom Waring can be reached at 215-354-3034 or twaring@phillynews.com