Teen charged with first-degree murder in this week’s shooting of 79-year-old Chester man

A 14-year-old youth was in custody Friday, charged with first-degree murder in the fatal shooting this week of a 79-year-old man in Chester, police said.

Police said Zhafir Tinsley-Jones shot Robert Womack in the back of the head while Womack was in a gray Chevrolet Impala in the area of Third and Highland Streets shortly before 4 p.m. Wednesday.

Tinsley-Jones, who was identified as the shooter by two witnesses in the car with Womack, was being held without bail at the Delaware County prison on criminal homicide, and related offenses.

The two witnesses told investigators they were in the Impala with Womack when four males approached and one of them declared, “There they go right there, get ’em,” according to the police criminal complaint.

One of the males, who both witnesses knew as “Z,” pulled a handgun from his waistband and started shooting at the car. The Impala sped away and both witnesses described Womack as bleeding and unresponsive with the car still moving. They tried taking control of the steering wheel and engaging the parking brake before the car finally crashed at Third and Wilcox in nearby Trainer Borough.

The witnesses took off but were located soon afterward by police.

Womack was found behind the wheel of the car and was pronounced dead at the scene.

A parked car at Third and Highland also had been hit by gunfire. Police found several shell casings in the street from two different caliber guns.

A police spokesperson confirmed that one of the witnesses was a grandchild of Womack’s and the other was a teenage friend who was wearing a ballistic vest when he was located by police. It was unclear whether the teen was wearing the vest in the car when the shooting occurred.

The criminal investigation was ongoing.