A man accused of killing a pregnant mother and her young daughter before torching their Bucks County home is due in court Tuesday afternoon.
Marcel Emmanuel Johnson of Levittown, Pa. is set to have a preliminary hearing in Magisterial Court in Bucks County on charges including criminal homicide, homicide of an unborn child, arson and weapons possession, according to court records.
Johnson, 21, has remained behind bars without bail following his November arrest.
Ebony Talley, 22, and her 4-year-old daughter R'Mani Rankins were found dead inside an apartment complex in Bristol Township, Pa. on Nov. 25 following a fire. Friends and family say Talley was five months pregnant at the time of her death.
The fire broke out at the Avalon Court Apartment Complex on the 3500 block of Bristol Oxford Valley Road -- not far from the Pennsylvania Turnpike. Firefighters controlled the blaze shortly after.
Officials soon discovered the bodies of Talley and R'Mani, who were staying with a friend inside the complex. Talley was pronounced dead at the scene. R'Mani was taken to the hospital where she later died.
According to the Bucks County District Attorney's Office, someone stabbed both Talley and her daughter and set a fire to cover it up.
Prosecutors in Bucks County say that DNA evidence found at the scene linked Johnson to the deaths.
"It's too fast," said Marquis Johnson, a friend of the victims. "It sounds fishy. It sounds like they were set up or something like that."
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According to an affidavit, Johnson was the last person at the scene with Talley and her daughter before their deaths.
