Three killed in Philly overnight, adding to violent weekend
Three men were killed in separate incidents in Philadelphia Sunday night and Monday morning, a violent end to a weekend in which at least eight people were killed, according to police.
Three men were killed in separate incidents in Philadelphia Sunday night and Monday morning, a violent end to a weekend in which at least eight people were killed, according to police.
Around 9:20 p.m. Sunday, officers found Baron Holmes, 50, lying on the 2300 block of Gerritt Street with stab wounds to the chest, police said. Holmes, who lived on the block in the King Village section of South Philadelphia, was taken to Penn Presbyterian Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead around 10:02, police said.
Authorities believe the motive was an argument, but police announced no arrests and no description of any suspects was available.
Hours later, around 2:30 a.m., an unidentified man in his mid-20s was found by police on the 2200 block of West Montgomery Avenue in North Philadelphia with gunshot wounds to his back and left side. He was pronounced dead at the scene around 2:35 a.m., police said. Police announced no arrests and said no weapons were recovered.
Then, around 5 a.m., officers found another man in his late 20s on the 5700 block of Keystone Street in Wissinoming with a gunshot wound to the head. The man, whom police did not identify, was pronounced dead at the scene. No arrests were made.
On Friday, three people were killed in separate incidents, including 24-year-old Joyce Quaweay, who police said was beaten to death by her boyfriend, Aaron Wright, 47, a former Temple University police officer. Wright was charged with murder, police said.
Two other people were shot to death Friday, police said: Khayree Warren, 28, on the 3500 block of North 21st Street in Tioga, and Khalil Shoatz, 25, on the 500 block of North 38th Street in Mantua. Police did not announce arrests in either case.
On Saturday, two people were shot to death, police said.
Around 2:45 a.m., officers found 23-year-old Luke Ellington of Hattiesburg, Miss., in the front passenger seat of a Toyota Tundra on the 2400 block of South 24th Street with a gunshot wound to the chest. He was taken to Penn Presbyterian and pronounced dead around 5:25 a.m., according to police.
A man in the car with Ellington told officers at the scene that the shooter had fired from across a parking lot of a South Philadelphia shopping center. As officers approached him, the man fled in a Hyundai Sonata, police said.
After a brief pursuit, police arrested Sem Savannara, 24, of Grove City, Ohio, and charged him with murder and related counts. A weapon was found in his car, police said. A 25-year-old woman was with him, but police did not identify her or say whether she would be charged.
Later Saturday morning, around 11 a.m., officers found 24-year-old Dante Williams on the 3100 block of North Sheridan Street in Fairhill suffering from gunshot wounds to the head and stomach, police said. He was pronounced dead at Temple University Hospital around 11:25 a.m., according to police. Authorities announced no arrests and said the motive was unknown.
The violence continued late Monday afternoon in Germantown, where a 26-year-old man was fatally shot near the intersection of Germantown Avenue and Berkley Street.
The victim, who reportedly owned an auto shop at the corner, was standing with another man, who suddenly began shooting just after 5:15 p.m., said Chief Inspector Scott Small.
"The shooter stood over him and continued firing shots," Small said. At least seven shell casings from a large-caliber semiautomatic gun were found at the scene.
The victim was taken by private vehicle to Einstein Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead at 5:29 p.m. The shooter was last seen running west on Berkley and north on Greene Street, Small said.
Anyone with information about any of these crimes is asked to call the Homicide Unit at 215-686-3334.
215-854-2817 @cs_palmer
Staff writer Robert Moran contributed to this article.