New Year's Murder Rate Up 31%; Philly On Pace For 635 Homicides

By Ralph Cipriano
for BigTrial.net

Philadelphia, which just set an all-time record last year with 562 murders, is already on a pace in the New Year to beat that record, with well over 600 murders.

As of last night, the city had already racked up 17 murders over the first 10 days of the New Year. That's a 31% increase over the 13 murders that the city recorded over the first 10 days of last year.

If the killing spree continues at this rate, the city would set a new all-time record this year with 635 murders.

It's something that the city's weak, soft-on-crime leadership of Mayor Kenney, Police Commissioner Outlaw & D.A. Larry Krasner can continue to be proud of. 

Yesterday, during a period of approximately 90 minutes, police responded to reports of a "person with a gun" at three different locations and found four bullet-ridden bodies, all of whom by the end of the night, were pronounced dead.

What did the victims all have in common? All had criminal records and were released from prison in either 2018 or 2019. And what did all of the killers have in common? As of today, they're still at large.

The most recent killing spree began at 6:15 p.m. on Monday, when police responding to a call at 6330 N. Beechwood St. for a "person with a gun" found a 35 year-old black male sitting inside a 2020 Nissan Altima suffering from multiple gunshot wounds to the legs and back. 

The car's engine was still running, the headlights were still on, and the driver's foot was resting on the brake. The rear driver's side window was blown out. 

Eleven minutes later, Khalif Carr-Witherspoon was pronounced dead by medics who arrived at the scene. The victim, who lived at 7152 N. 20th St., had six prior arrests for simple assault and strangulation, and a couple of gun violations. He was last released from on Feb. 21, 2019.

Detectives recovered 7 40 caliber fired casings, six fired 9 mm fired casings and two projectiles.

At 6:39 p.m., police officers responding to a "person with a gun" report at 3000 Ella Street found two bullet-ridden victims lying on the road. 

James Weikel, a 45 year-old white male, was shot numerous times thorughout the body. He was transported to Temple University Hospital where he was pronounced dead. 

Kelvin Quintero, a 25  year-old black male, was also shot numerous times throughout his body. He also was pronounced dead at Temple Unviersity Hospital.

Police at the scene recovered 24 9 mm casings, five fragments and three projectiles. Weikel, who lived at 3051 N. Carlisle St., had eight prior arrests, including simple assault, and possession of drugs. 

Quintero, who lived at 1860 N. Lippincott St., had one prior arrest for possession of drugs and was last released from prison on Oct. 22, 2019.

At 7:48 p.m. Monday, police responding to a "person with a gun" report at 200 W. Westmoreland Street found a 31 year-old black male lying on the highway suffering from multiple gunshot wounds to the head and chest.

Travis Bing was taken to Temple University Hospital where he was pronounced dead at 8:10 p.m.

Cops at the crime scene found 20 40 mm casings and 10 9 mm casings. Bing, who lived at 4248 Ormond Street, had 18 prior arrests, including possession of drugs, assault, burglary and retail theft. He was last released from prison on Aug. 23, 2018.

Surveillance video showed that Bing was at the corner of Philip and Westmoreland St. when he was attacked by two shooters, who opened fire. The victim ran east and collapsed on the southwest corner of Westmoreland Street.

 The attackers fled on foot, running west on Westmoreland Street.