D.A. Went Soft On Alleged Serial Carjacker & Alleged Serial Killer

Krasner prepares to bolt his own press conference

By Ralph Cipriano
for BigTrial.net

On Sept. 19th, a mother who was about to drive her daughter to school at 6:15 a.m. in Northeast Philadelphia was confronted by a carjacker who pointed a black handgun at both of their heads. 

Ten days later, U.S. Attorney Jacqueline Romero announced that her office had arrested Amir Harvey, 20, of the Olney section of the city, and charged him with the carjacking of the mother and daughter that took place in the 8900 block of Maxwell Place.

It turns out that Harvey has a rap sheet that included seven arrests in the past five years. He's a suspect in at least four carjackings, including one case where he previously pointed a gun in the faces of a mother and her children. He's also been arrested for allegedly firing four shots at police and then barricading himself, rather than surrender.

And remarkably, with all those arrests, thanks to the D.A.'s office, Harvey has had a smooth voyage through the criminal justice system here in Philadelphia. He's been released on his own recognizance three times. He's had his bail cut in half so it would only cost him $10,000 to get out of jail.

When he previously pulled a gun on the mother and her children, he was released without having to go to jail. On two occasions when he entered a negotiated guilty plea to stealing cars, he got no jail time and was sentenced only to probation. And when he went on trial for stealing a car, he got off.

Amir Harvey

On Sept. 8, 2021, Harvey was found not guilty or had the charges dismissed or withdrawn on 14 different charges involving his fourth alleged carjacking, charges that included robbery, reckless endangerment and robbery of a motor vehicle.

So the bumbling D.A.'s office lost that case. Twelve days later, on Sept. 20, 2021, Harvey was back in court to be sentenced in the case where he allegedly fired four shots at police and then barricaded himself.

And once again, Harvey got a great deal from the D.A.'s office. The most serious charge against him was reckless endangerment. He would up entering a negotiated guilty plea and got a sentence of 11 /2 to 23 months in jail, a deal that included immediate parole for time served.

Talk about a revolving door of justice. So Harvey was free last month to allegedly carjack the mother and daughter in Northeast Philly.

At a press conference today, I asked District Attorney Larry Krasner to explain the "light charges and the light sentence" in the case of Amir Harvey.

"I would have to look into the details of that matter," Krasner replied. But what he did next seemed to indicate that he had no intention of doing so.

"Thank you very much," the D.A. said, before gathering up his papers and abruptly leaving the podium. 

Several officials from the D.A.'s office standing behind Krasner looked puzzled as the boss left the room. It's the sixth time since July that Krasner has ended a press conference by fleeing, rather than answer a question from me. 

"I've got a follow up question," I told Krasner, but once again, the D.A. was in the process of booking it, stopping briefly only to pick up his coffee. 

"Thank you very much," Krasner repeated as he walked away.

"Didn't you say we had one follow up [question], sir," I asked. 

Yes he did. Before Krasner opened up his press conference to questions from the press, the D.A. had promised on camera to answer "one question and a follow up if you need to do so."

But apparently he forgot about that promise. 

Before he left, Krasner had told the media how hard his office was working to collaborate with the U.S. Attorney's office on a special task force that seeks to solve the "terrifying and traumatic carjackings" that have become all too commonplace.

According to police, as of late September, carjackings have more than doubled this year in Philadelphia. As of Sept. 27th, there were 1,005 carjackings in Philadelphia, compared to the same time last year when the city had less than 500.

Krasner was gone from the podium, but Joanne Pescatore, the ADA Krasner's head of homicide, was still standing there. 

So I asked her a follow-up question about a case that I had asked her about the previous week. 

According to police, on the night of Dec. 28, 2020, Savion Perez walked up to 24-year-old Ebony Kitchen, who was engaged in a physical altercation with a mother and her son, and executed Kitchen at point blank range by shooting her in the head. 

On April 2, 2021, police arrested Perez, 23, of the Juniata section of Philadelphia, and charged him with murder, conspiracy, two gun charges, and reckless endangerment. The police also arrested three co-defendants and charged them each with seven counts, including murder, conspiracy, aggravated assault, and reckless endangerment.

But at a preliminary hearing on July 21, 2021, when a witness failed to appear, Judge James DeLeon dismissed all charges against all four defendants for a lack of prosecution. 

What happened next has baffled homicide cops and former prosecutors who reviewed the case.

The D.A.'s office wound up twice refiling the charges against all three co-defendants, but didn't recharge Perez, the alleged shooter. 

So Perez went free. And then, according to the cops and the D.A.'s office, Perez went out and allegedly committed two more murders. 

When I asked Pescatore a week ago why the D.A.'s office didn't recharge Perez with murder, she blamed it on a witness who, instead of showing up at the preliminary hearing in Philadelphia, she said, moved to Texas.

But I have since learned that instead of just one witness in the case who identified Perez as the shooter, there are three witnesses. And these are the same three witnesses who identified the co-defendants. 

So I asked Pescatore again why she didn't recharge Perez with murder.

At that moment, Dustin Slaughter, the D.A.'s spokesperson, went up to the podium and cut the audio to the live feed to the D.A.'s Facebook page, a stunt that was caught in the last seconds of this 25-minute video.

So those audiences wouldn't hear Pescatore's reply, which was, "I can't answer that."

And why not, I asked.

"I can't answer that," she repeated. 

Since Perez is back in custody, police sources say, he is now a suspect in a fourth murder. 

Krasner had called his weekly press conference today to talk about the "sentence & conviction" of two defendants who went on a five-day crime spree in 2018.

One of those defendants, Quadir Simmons, Krasner said, was recently sentenced by a judge, but Krasner didn't tell the media what that sentence was. And nobody asked.

Helen Park, and assistant D.A., explained that the crime spree began on Nov. 26, 2018 when Simmons and Julian Johnson stole a car in the 35th Police District.

The next day, Park said, the two suspects shot two men, one in the chest, who was left a paraplegic, and the other in the head, but it was a graze wound. The next day, according to ADA Park, the two suspects shot another man seven times, resulting in "extensive injuries" to his arm and internal organs. 

The crime spree came to an end, Park said, when the police arrested the two men after a traffic stop where they recovered firearms from their vehicle. After the arrest, ADA Park said, the defendants were responsible for "a great deal of witness intimidation in this case."

Before he bolted his press conference, Krasner bragged that the prosecution of Quadir Simmons was a result of his office working collaboratively with police "to hold defendants accountable," a collaboration that had resulted in "excellent success."

But what sentence did the defendant receive, D.A. Krasner?

For stealing a car, shooting three men [and leaving one a paraplegic], in addition to gun charges, Quadir Simmons received a minimum sentence of only 12 years, court records show.

When he is paroled, the 22-year-old Simmons, who's been in jail since 2019, will be just 31 years old.

Here's the video of the D.A. in action as he flees his own press conference: