Arrest made in fatal shooting on SEPTA train; victims identified in Tuesday homicides
Tahmir Banks, 21, of Lansdowne, has been arrested and charged with murder, gun violations, and related offenses in the March 30 shooting death of Nicholas Troxell, 41, on the Market-Frankford Line train, police said.
A 21-year-old Delaware County man has been arrested in last month’s fatal shooting of a Kensington man on SEPTA’s Market-Frankford Line train, Philadelphia police said Wednesday.
Tahmir Banks, of the unit block of Beverly Avenue in East Lansdowne, was arrested and charged Friday with murder, gun violations, and related offenses in the March 30 shooting death of 41-year-old Nicholas Troxell.
A police spokesperson said the motive for the shooting was an argument, but did not elaborate. The shooting was believed to have occurred while the westbound train was near the Erie-Torresdale station shortly after midnight.
After SEPTA police learned of the shooting, they removed Troxell — who was shot once in the head — when the train stopped at the Allegheny station in Kensington. He was pronounced dead shortly afterward at Temple University Hospital.
Troxell’s family could not be reached for comment Wednesday. An online obituary said he was a devoted dad to five children and had seven grandchildren. “Nick’s family will remember him for his artistic talent, and like many who grew up in Philly, he displayed this through street graffiti art,” the obituary said.
No attorney was listed for Banks. He was denied bail and was being held at the Curran-Fromhold Correctional Facility.
According to online court records, Banks had been arrested in September on charges of possession with intent to deliver drugs and had been released on unsecured bail. He was awaiting trial on those charges.
Also Wednesday, Philadelphia police identified two of three men fatally shot Tuesday as gun violence continued amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The three slayings increased the city’s 2020 homicide count to 110 as of Tuesday night, a 16% jump from the same period last year — and close to the figure of 111 homicides in 2007, the most recent year when homicides exceeded 100 for the same time period.
Authorities reported no arrests in Tuesday’s homicides, which remained under investigation.
Police identified a 38-year-old man fatally wounded about 9:30 a.m. on the 700 block of East Locust Avenue in East Germantown as Sean Washington, of nearby North Lambert Street. Washington, who was shot in the torso, died shortly afterward at Albert Einstein Medical Center.
At the scene Tuesday, police Crime Scene Unit investigators examined a pink handgun found on the sidewalk near the fatal shooting. Police provided no details about the gun’s connection to the slaying.
Authorities also identified a 32-year-old man fatally wounded about 4 p.m. Tuesday on the 2500 block of 24th Street in North Philadelphia as Joseph Williams, who lived nearby on Sergeant Street. Williams, who had numerous gunshot wounds to his head and body, was pronounced dead shortly afterward at Temple University Hospital.
About 8:50 p.m., a 19-year-old man was fatally wounded in a street shooting in Kensington. Police said the victim, who was shot once in the back while on the 200 block of Westmoreland Street, was pronounced dead shortly afterward at Temple. His name had not been released as of Wednesday afternoon.