West Philly man is facing death penalty for allegedly killing ex-girlfriend and unborn child in King of Prussia

A West Philadelphia man will face the death penalty for allegedly murdering his ex-girlfriend and their unborn child in King of Prussia, prosecutors announced Thursday, marking the first capital case in Montgomery County in more than seven years.

Prosecutors say Rafiq Thompson, 39, gunned down his ex-girlfriend, Tamara Cornelius, at an Exxon station in King of Prussia in April. Cornelius was four months pregnant with Thompson’s child when she died.

Thompson faces multiple counts of first- and third-degree murder and is being held in custody at Montgomery County Correctional Facility without bail. He waived his arraignment Thursday, and his trial is scheduled to begin Sept. 5.

Pennsylvania has had a moratorium on executions since 2015, under which defendants can be sentenced to death but none are executed. Despite the moratorium, Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele said the case was egregious enough to warrant pushing for capital punishment, with Thompson’s alleged crimes meeting eight aggravating factors prosecutors use to justify a capital case.

”This is multiple, meaning it’s both the mother and the unborn child,” Steele told The Inquirer. “He’s got a significant history of violent convictions. There’s a grave risk to others. He committed this in a crowded gas station where he fired multiple shots where there were multiple people in close proximity to where the shooting occurred.”

There are 105 people on death row in Pennsylvania, according to a Pennsylvania Department of Corrections list. Three of them were convicted in Montgomery County, a spokesperson for the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office said.

Shortly before 10:30 p.m. on April 8, Upper Merion Township police officers arrived at the gas station on North Gulph Road to find Cornelius with multiple gunshot wounds, according to court documents. She was taken to a hospital and pronounced dead that same day.

According to police documents, Thompson had been texting Cornelius relentlessly in the weeks ahead of her killing after Cornelius told Thompson he was the father of her unborn child. In early 2022, Cornelius was trying to break up with Thompson, while Thompson accused her of cheating on him and the two primarily texted about the child.

Thompson sent dozens of unanswered texts until April 8, when he asked Cornelius to meet him for dinner at Cheesecake Factory in the King of Prussia Mall, according to the documents. According to witnesses cited in the documents, the two were arguing at dinner and Thompson left ahead of Cornelius.

Surveillance footage showed Cornelius driving toward the Exxon station, with Thompson tailing her with his headlights turned off, according to the affidavit.

Witnesses told police that a man had followed Cornelius to the gas station and started arguing with her before shooting her multiple times, the affidavit said.

As the two continued to argue and Cornelius pumped gas into her car, Thompson pulled out a gun and shot her, the affidavit said. As she tried to flee, Thompson ran after her and continued shooting.

One witness told police that Cornelius was heard apologizing to the shooter as she lay on the ground. Another witness recalls hearing the shooter scream out that he didn’t care if he went to jail.

Thompson’s attorney, Niels Eriksen, said he didn’t understand why the case stood out as warranting capital punishment, and noted that there are far worse murder cases in which prosecutors haven’t sought the death penalty.

“Death penalty should be reserved for the worst of the worst,” he said. “I don’t think this is the worst of the worst.”

When Thompson was arrested, he was on probation for a 2018 aggravated-assault conviction in which he hit his former girlfriend with his van and charged at her with a knife after she ended their relationship. The victim said Thompson had previously set a mattress on fire in her backyard, according to court records.

According to the records, Thompson had been harassing the woman, who had obtained a protection-from-abuse order against him before the attack. Thompson was in prison for three years and paroled in June 2019.