West Philly man charged with murder for shooting during a carjacking outside of a Delco mosque

A West Philadelphia man has been charged with murder, police announced Wednesday, for carjacking a man outside of a mosque in Upper Darby last year, and leading police on a long, protracted chase as he attempted to flee.

Herman Stigall, 20, has been charged with first- and third-degree murder, as well as robbery and related offenses in the Oct. 29 killing of Mohammad Rahman, 65, of Philadelphia, who was shot outside the Masjid Al Madinah Upper Darby Islamic Center during a carjacking.

Stigall remains in custody at the George W. Hill Correctional Facility and was denied bail. There was no indication he had hired an attorney.

Delaware County District Attorney Jack Stollsteimer, in announcing the arrest Wednesday, said it was the result of dogged police work by Upper Darby officers and other local agencies.

“Two months ago, I said we’d bring this man to justice in the bloodthirsty murder of Mr. Rahman, and we’ve done just that,” Stollsteimer said, calling the killing one of the “most heinous murders in Delaware County.”

Stigall was taken into custody Dec. 29 by Upper Darby Police after months of investigating with assistance from the FBI and Philadelphia Police. He had been seen driving a different stolen vehicle, and attempted to run down an officer who tried to pull him over on 69th Street near Market, according to the affidavit of probable cause filed for his arrest.

He continued to drive erratically for about five miles, investigators said, speeding and crashing into other cars as officers continued to pursue him. When he crashed the stolen car on I-76 near Lincoln Drive, Stigall bailed out of the vehicle holding a gun, and jumped over a concrete barrier onto train tracks below.

Police later spotted him near the Strawberry Mansion Bridge, and arrested him after he waded into the Schuylkill River in an attempt to escape, the affidavit said. He was carrying a “ghost gun,” an unregistered firearm assembled from a kit purchased online.

Investigators believe that was the gun used in the mosque shooting, the affidavit said. Clothing found in the car is being tested to see if it’s a match for what Stigall was seen wearing on the night of the shooting, police said.

Sheikh Siddique, the president-elect of Masjid Al Madinah and a longtime friend of Rahman’s, said Wednesday that he was a loving father of four and a dedicated member of his community. News of Stigall’s arrest was bittersweet for those who knew Rahman well.

“The family is very happy, but lost is lost,” Siddique said. “His kids cannot get their father back. His wife cannot get her husband back. But they are happy, because there will be justice.”

At the time of his capture, Stigall had an active arrest warrant out of Upper Merion Township in Montgomery County for using a gun to rob someone the day after Rahman’s death at the King of Prussia Mall, according to Upper Darby Police Superintendent Tim Bernhardt.

Upper Darby officers had linked Stigall to the mosque killing through surveillance footage, which captured him walking throughout the borough and approaching Rahman as he parked his Toyota Rav4 in the religious center’s parking lot, according to the affidavit.

Stigall is seen approaching the victim as he exits the car and attacking him. Rahman then falls to the ground, clutching his chest, as Stigall gets into the car and drives away. Further surveillance footage captured the vehicle as it drove back toward Philadelphia.

Rahman, a corrections officer at Riverside Correctional Facility and Detention Center in Philadelphia, was later pronounced dead at Crozer-Chester Medical Center.

Rahman’s son was able to help police track the car through his cellphone, which had been left inside the Rav4. Investigators found the phone abandoned in a storm drain in West Philadelphia, not far from Stigall’s home, the affidavit said. Days later, the stolen car was discovered two blocks away.

Stigall was already known to law enforcement: At the time of the shooting, he was under supervision by the Philadelphia Juvenile Probation Department for an aggravated assault case. Detectives noticed posts on his Instagram account in which he was wearing clothing matching the outfit worn by the shooting suspect.

A search of his cellphone records showed he was in the area of the mosque at the time the shooting took place.