Street group tied to 5 homicides and a host of shootings has been eliminated, DA Krasner says

A violent North Philadelphia street group tied to a string of shootings and homicides is effectively “gone,” District Attorney Larry Krasner said Monday as he announced murder and related charges against eight men.

The group, dubbed “Big Naddy Gang” or BNG, is “history” after a grand jury investigation that led to the charges, said Krasner, as he stood with Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel, city prosecutors, and members of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

“BNG is gone, we are not just talking about ‘some of them got caught for something,’” the district attorney said of the street group, whose members are accused of crimes in and around Strawberry Mansion “ … those communities and those neighborhoods, if they don’t know it already, they will know it soon.”

The eight men now face charges of murder, attempted murder, conspiracy, and firearm offenses and are accused of committing a string of shootings in 2021 and 2022.

Five people died in those incidents, prosecutors said. Seven of the men, who range in age from 19 to 25, were involved with the Big Naddy Gang; one was associated with the “Zoo Gang,” another Philadelphia street group, Krasner said.

Some of the BNG members had already been arrested in connection with 2021 shootings. The grand jury’s investigation uncovered additional shootings and homicides, according to Krasner’s office.

Jamir Brunson-Gans, 21; Dontae Sutton, 20; Khalil Henry, 20; Elijah Soto, 19; Nakye Williams, 19; Haneef Davis, 19; Jahlil Williams, 25; and Rahmeir Hayes, 20, were charged in connection with five homicides and eight nonfatal shootings.

The charges are the latest in a handful of law enforcement operations targeting street groups accused of gun violence.

In 2022, the District Attorney’s Gun Violence Task Force cracked down on the West Philadelphia-based “02da4″ and “FSB” street groups, arresting five members for violent gun crimes.

The BNG arrests brought to a close an investigation into the 2021 slaying of a mother of two.

Chaundra Jones, 24, was killed and two other women injured when a handful of now-charged BNG members fired on her vehicle at 33rd and Diamond Streets that September.

Jahlil Williams, Sutton, Brunson-Gans, Soto, Nakye Williams, Henry, and Davis were accused of the murder. Group members had been hired to carry out a hit, according to the District Attorney’s Office, and mistook her for the person they had intended to kill.

BNG members were also accused of fatally shooting two other people that month. Brunson-Gans, Soto, and Sutton were accused of a murder on the 2200 block of West Huntingdon Street, and Soto, Sutton, Henry, and Hayes were accused of another on 2900 block of West York Street.

Then, that October, prosecutors said, Nakye Williams and Davis were involved of the killing of a man who was leaving a candlelight vigil at the 2600 block of North 22nd Street.

Nakye Williams is also charged with killing a man during carjacking on the 2500 block of North 28th Street in January 2022.

As part of the investigation, the Gun Violence Task Force, in collaboration with ATF agents, reviewed “an enormous amount of digital evidence,” according to assistant district attorney Joe Lanuti.

“This investigation involved cutting-edge digital forensics, ballistic comparison, and several days of grand jury testimony,” Lanuti said. “The motives for these shootings were varied, but BNG motives sought money, vehicles, but above all they sought notoriety. They wanted a reputation for being violent and dangerous.”

The 4.5-square-mile police district where BNG operated is considered one of the most dangerous in the city, Bethel said during the news conference, with an average of 50 homicides and 200 shootings a year.

Violent crime in Philadelphia is on the decline for a third year. Citywide, homicides are down 38% from this time last year, and shootings have fallen by 44%, according to the District Attorney’s Office.

Bethel credited the Gun Violence Task Force for contributing to that trend.

“This work matters,” he said. “It sends a message those individuals in the community that they matter.”