Murder charges filed against man accused of shooting his ex-girlfriend as she walked with her young twins

Authorities have filed murder charges against a Philadelphia man they say fatally shot his ex-girlfriend last week as she was walking outside with her young twins.

Donavan Crawford, 28, of West Philadelphia, was arrested Monday and charged overnight with murder and multiple counts of illegally carrying a gun. He’s being held at the Curran-Fromhold Correctional Facility.

Officials said he shot 24-year-old Sykea Patton four times just after 3 p.m. Friday while she was walking on the 800 block of North Preston Street in Mantua. Police took her to Penn Presbyterian Medical Center, where she died.

District Attorney Larry Krasner said Patton was walking with her 5-year-old twin sons when she was shot. Patton was in the process of obtaining a stay-away order against Crawford, said Joanne Pescatore, assistant supervisor of the homicide and nonfatal shootings unit in the District Attorney’s Office.

So far this year, 497 people have been killed in Philadelphia, a number that is 13% higher than at the same point last year. And according to police statistics, women have made up a larger share of those who have been shot. Last year, about 6% of gunshot victims who died were women. In 2021, it’s 11%.

Patton was one of two women fatally shot over the weekend in Philadelphia. Police said on Saturday that a gunman on the 6100 block of Palmetto Street in Crescentville fired several shots at Jessica Covington, 32, who was seven months pregnant and unloading gifts from her baby shower. She was struck in the head and stomach, and her unborn child was also killed.

Pescatore said Monday police were questioning a suspect in that case, but she didn’t elaborate on a potential motive.

She said she’s worried that with the holiday season underway, the violence against women would not abate.

“We’re approaching Thanksgiving,” she said, “and unfortunately the holidays see even more domestic cases.”