Overview
- Philadelphia police have identified 21-year-old Jahylin Melchur as a suspect and say he remains at large in connection with two homicides and a May nonfatal shooting.
- Martin Higgins, 45, was shot and killed on June 20 and Sharef Holman, 29, was shot on June 26 and later died in hospital; a 55-year-old man survived a May 29 shooting that police link to the same suspect.
- Law-enforcement sources told NBC that investigators believe the victims were targeted for being gay and noted both homicide victims were shot in the back while the police department says the probe is active and investigators are examining all motives.
- Authorities released images they say show the suspect wearing layered hoodies and say surveillance places him on SEPTA’s Broad Street Line around 10 p.m., and they have asked riders and neighbors to call the homicide tip lines with any information.
- District Attorney Larry Krasner and justice partners say Pennsylvania’s lone hate-crime law, Ethnic Intimidation, does not cover sexual orientation or gender identity and are pressing lawmakers for changes that would give prosecutors more tools to pursue bias-motivated killings.