Police name 7 slain in 3 days

Homicide detectives are looking for the shooters who killed seven men in separate attacks around Philadelphia since noon Friday.

The killings bring to 24 the number of people slain in the city this year, not including the woman and seven infants allegedly killed by abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell and whose deaths are counted in the police homicide statistics.

Killed were:

Samuel Pressley, 44, of the 1000 block of South 54th Street, Southwest Philadelphia. Police say he was shot in the back of the head Sunday afternoon inside his home in the Kingsessing section. The motive is not yet known.

Melvin Pickron, 19 of the 900 block of North 10th Street. Police say Pickron was shot in the head and torso on the 900 block of West Master Street in North Philadelphia on Sunday afternoon. The motive is not known yet.

Kelly Nelson, 28, of the 5500 block of Hill Creek Drive in Crescentville. Police say Nelson was found with a gunshot wound to the head on his street early Sunday. Investigators believe an argument led up to the slaying.

Derrick Banks, 28, of the 1500 block of Newkirk Street, North Philadelphia. Police say Banks was shot multiple times in the head not far from his home on the 2900 Block of Turner Street in Brewerytown early Sunday. Again, an argument is believed to be the motive.

Damon Rush, 25, of the 7100 block of Walker Street. Rush was shot twice in the head while sitting in the passenger seat of a car at Tyson Avenue near Roosevelt Boulevard Saturday night, police say. Investigators believe Rush was the intended target.

Robert Haughton, 45, of the 6600 block of Dorel Street in Southwest Philadelphia's Elmwood section. Police said Haughton was shot in the groin and chest on his street early Saturday. Robbery is the suspected motive.

James Smith-Taylor, 29, of the 600 block of North 18th Street, Spring Garden. He was shot numerous times in the torso about noon Friday on Bellmore Avenue near Amber Street in Kensington. The motive is not yet known.