4 murders, a suspicious death among incidents investigated

It seemed to be business as usual in the summer heat on Castor Avenue in Frankford yesterday afternoon.

Neighbors seemed blithely unaware of the violence that had erupted overnight at the EZ Up Lounge nearby at Benner Street early Saturday, leaving a man dead on the street and three others wounded.

They were watering their lawns, walking their dogs, and some embraced a last chance at summer with a cookout, seeming not to know or care about the bloodshed after a fight outside the bar shortly before 3 a.m.

Cops rushed the unidentified man to Albert Einstein Medical Center where he was pronounced dead shortly after 7 a.m.

"All this violence is really starting to paint a bleak picture for the city as a whole," said one resident, who declined to give his name.

"It's spilling out everywhere these days. You can't just put it on one part of the city anymore, because it's everywhere."

In addition to the Castor Avenue homicide, police were investigating three other murders, a suspicious death, a shooting, and two other mysterious incidents:

* In Kensington, a 36-year-old man was stabbed once in the chest about 4 p.m. yesterday on Kensington Avenue near Tusculum Street after an argument.

He was pronounced dead at Temple University Hospital shortly before 5 p.m.

A weapon was recovered and police had a suspect in custody at a local hospital.

* In Point Breeze, police identified a man who was shot to death Friday night on Dickinson Street near 18th. Cops said Zamere Taylor, 25, of 17th Street near Reed, was found lying in the street with multiple gunshot wounds to the chest and back. He was pronounced dead at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. Police were still looking for a suspect.

* In North Philadelphia, police identified a man who was shot to death Friday night on 19th Street near Westmoreland. According to Jeff Moran, spokesman for the medical examiner's office, Jahvone Alexander, 20, of Penn Street near Orthodox, was shot multiple times in the torso about 10:47 p.m. He was pronounced dead at Temple University Hospital about 11 p.m.

* In West Philadelphia, police were investigating a suspicious death. Cops said a 49-year-old woman was found about 9 a.m. Saturday on North 40th Street near Poplar, bleeding from a large gash to her leg. She was pronounced dead about 9:24 a.m. Police questioned her boyfriend in the incident, but as of last night no charges had been filed.

* In Olney, a 24-year-old man was shot multiple times on Lawrence Street near Somerville Avenue about 5 p.m. Saturday. Police said the victim was shot twice in the head, twice in the shoulder, once in the abdomen, and once in the wrist. He was listed in extremely critical condition at Albert Einstein Medical Center.

* In North Philadelphia, an unconscious woman was found at 7:26 a.m. Saturday on Ridge Avenue near Bolton, police said. She is between 35 and 40 years old and was in fair condition at Temple University Hospital.

The unidentified woman was found with cuts, bruises and bee stings on her body, said Lt. George Ondrejka, with Central Detectives.

* In Spring Garden, a 24-year-old woman was found viciously beaten in the back yard of a home on Mount Vernon near 19th about 7 a.m. Saturday, police said.

Cops added that the woman was badly beaten on her face and found naked from the waist down. She was in guarded condition last night at Hahnemann University Hospital, said Special Victims Unit Sgt. Brian King.

The woman told police she didn't know what had happened to her, King said. Investigators are awaiting the results of a medical evaluation to determine if she was sexually assaulted.