One teen was charged and another is wanted for the killing of a 15-year-old girl in West Philly

A 15-year-old boy was charged Wednesday with murder and related counts for killing a 15-year-old girl and wounding her 20-year-old brother in a shooting last month in West Philadelphia, according to police.

Homicide Capt. Jason Smith said at a news conference that Malachi Johnson had been taken into custody, and that an arrest warrant had been issued for another suspect, 18-year-old Ousmane Fine.

The two males are accused of shooting at Embaba Mengesteabe and her brother, Amanuel Mengesteabe, as the siblings drove from a gas station on the 6200 block of Chestnut Street on Feb. 23.

The gunmen had intended to shoot Amanuel Mengesteabe, Smith said. He said the motive was ongoing violence between rival groups in the neighborhood.

Both siblings were shot in the head. Amanuel Mengesteabe was released from the hospital the same day. Embaba Mengesteabe died on March 3. Police have said she was an unintended victim.

The homicide devastated her classmates and school community at Motivation High School, where she was a sophomore. Teachers described the girl as mature beyond her years and beloved by her peers.

Johnson did not have an attorney listed in court documents.

The charges in the girl’s killing were announced in the hours after police responded to two more shootings of teens Tuesday night and early Wednesday.

Around 7 p.m. on the 5200 block of Pentridge Street in Kingsessing, 15-year-old Antonio Walker was fatally shot while playing basketball with his 14-year-old cousin, according to police.

Smith said the killing of Walker was baffling because it “appears to be an indiscriminate shooting.” He said Walker was a “great kid” and that “at this time we have no reason to believe that these two kids were actually targeted.”

Smith said police believe people fired shots out of a silver Ford Taurus with tinted windows, and that, “following the gunshots, you can hear laughter coming from inside the vehicle.”

Hours later, around 3:30 a.m. on the 7600 block of Frankford Avenue in Holmesburg, a 15-year-old boy was wounded by gunfire. Police said he was expected to survive.

Commissioner Danielle Outlaw said in a statement that she was “saddened and outraged” by the gun violence affecting young people. “I implore the community to be proactive and remain vigilant,” she said. “The duty to protect these children belongs to all of us.”

Smith said from Jan. 1 through March 9, nine children have been slain, up from three through the same span last year, and that kids have made up about 10% of all slayings this year, compared to 4% percent last year.

During all of 2020, 35 children were killed in the city, representing 7% percent of the 499 homicide victims, Smith said.

Police believe the violence among youth has been driven by the ease of obtaining guns, idle time resulting from schools being closed, and fights on social media platforms such as Instagram. Smith said: “They seem to take this stuff very seriously, they have access to firearms, and this is the result.”

“It’s horrible,” Smith added. “It’s a disturbing trend we’re seeing over and over again in Philadelphia.”