Drug turf battle kills 3; gunfire fells 4 others

Control over a North Philadelphia drug corner led to the deaths of three men during a particularly violent stretch that has left seven people dead in the city since Thursday.

Homicide investigators said that five of the deaths appeared to be drug-related and that three of the victims were connected with the Mutter Street Boys, a drug network that claims the intersection of Mutter and Indiana Avenue.

The first to be killed in the North Philadelphia turf battle were Jose "Monstro" Ortiz, 45, the leader of the Mutter Street gang, and an associate, Roberto Beltran, 38, who were gunned down Thursday afternoon near their drug corner, according to Homicide Capt. James Clark.

Hours after those shootings, an unidentified teenager at the scene was overheard saying, "We're going to find who did it and get him."

Yesterday morning, about 10, the body of Luis Rivera, 32, was found on Howard Street near Tusculum Street, on the other side of train tracks from where Ortiz and Beltran were killed. Black rosary beads and a silver cross that he usually wore were found a half-block away. He had been shot to death, and the killing appears to be retaliation, Clark said.

"They all have numerous arrests for drug violations," Clark said. "It looks like the killings were over control of that block."

At Indiana and Mutter - where an unregulated open-air market operating next to a Conrail line provides cover for drug dealers - candles were burning yesterday, memorializing Ortiz, and "Rest In Peace .. Monstro .." had been spray-painted on green plywood where he died.

A man who stopped at the intersection yesterday said the spot was once known as the "million-dollar corner" for the kilos of cocaine and heroin distributed.

"It's got to stop," said the 27-year-old man, who did not want to be identified in the newspaper. "I have two kids. They want to go outside to ride their bikes, but they can't, it's too dangerous."

Investigators familiar with the area said that's no exaggeration. There have been conflicts in the area between the nationally known Latin Kings gang and smaller outfits, such as the Mutter Street Boys and the Bart Simpson Gang.

Across the street from where the candles burned for Ortiz, a two-story mural featuring the Puerto Rican flag and the name "Raul" recognized another Mutter Boys leader who was killed on the street, neighbors said.

Police said the area, tagged with gang graffiti on commercial buildings among rowhouses, became more violent recently, after Ortiz returned from prison and beat his rival nearly unconscious in recent days for control of the gang. That may be why he was killed Thursday, police said.

Ortiz also had been under investigation for a possible role in other recent killings, and that also might be a motive for his slaying.

Part of the corner's appeal is the Conrail line, which drug dealers and their clients can use as a barrier to escape police patrols.

Yesterday, police were on the north side of the tracks investigating the latest killing while business at the market on the south side of tracks continued: People were buying and selling furniture, water heaters, electronics and assorted goods.

Greg Bucceroni, a former police officer who now is an anticrime activist, said the killings were epidemic.

"You have the drug gangs there," Bucceroni said. "Members one by one are being murdered by other drug gangs."

The violence has been so severe that civilians have turned into targets for threatening drug profits. In June, he said, he was beaten and hospitalized during an assault by members of the Bart Simpson Gang.

The Simpson gang, police said, takes its name from the packaging of the drugs it sells, which feature either a cartoon drawing or black tape.

People looking for drugs head down the busy corridor along the tracks bordering Indiana and Gurney Avenues shouting, "I'm looking for Bart Simpson," or, "black tape."

The tracks are notoriously known as the place to shoot heroin, smoke crack, or beat a path should police give chase. Paid lookers shout out as police patrol, giving dealers and users time to hide their stuff.

Among the litter are used needles, enough to easily be found.

Despite the latest killings, the year's murder rate is still 16 percent lower than the one at this time last year. So far this year there have been 272 murders, compared with 324 during the same time in 2007.

Two other drug killings happened Thursday night in North Philadelphia, but blocks away from Mutter and Indiana.

Shortly after 9 p.m. Thursday, a gunman shot three men inside a rowhouse in the 2300 block of North Marshall Street. Barry Johnson, 33, was shot in the head and died inside the house. Rubin Rasheen Eason, 28, was shot in the head and an arm as he ran outside and collapsed. He was pronounced dead at Temple University Hospital at 9:41 p.m. Johnson's younger brother, Christopher Johnson, 21, was shot in the back and remained in critical condition at Temple yesterday afternoon.

Police issued an arrest warrant for Kyree Slocum, 35, also of North Philadelphia, who they say is the gunman.

"They were all in the drug game," Clark said, referring to the victims and suspected gunman.

The other killings were of:

Tyrone Reese, of the 2800 block of North 24th Street, who was found shot to death at 1:53 a.m. Thursday inside a home in the 2800 block of North Ringgold Street in North Philadelphia. (A 27-year-old man was found nearby at 24th and Somerset Streets with a gunshot wound to the face. He was reported in critical condition at Temple.)

Rupert Tulloch, 47, of the 2200 block of South 67th Street, who was found at 12:19 a.m. Thursday shortly after police responded to a shooting in the 6800 block of Paschall Street in Southwest Philadelphia. He had a gunshot wound to the head and was pronounced dead at the scene.