An 18-year-old boy was charged for committing two separate murders.
CBS identified the killer as 18-year-old Tyseem Murray from Southwest Philadelphia. NBC reports that Murray lived on the 5400 block of Bartram Drive.
He has been charged with killing 31-year-old, Xiaoding Li and 15-year-old Zyqueire Echevarria in separate incidents.
Police reported that Murray has been charged with murder, criminal conspiracy, robbery, violation of uniform firearms act, and other related offenses.
Murray shot Li on Jan. 7 at the JD Hoyu Grocery corner store at 9th and Porter St, per reports. The victim was working in the store — standing in for his father, who was on a break.
Police told outlets that Li was working the register when two masked men came in and shot him. It was reported that the men didn’t steal anything and fled the scene after the shooting.
Li was shot once in the chest and was transported to Jefferson Hospital. Customers found Li face down behind the counter before he was pronounced dead at 6:26 p.m.
Li was described as hard-working while raising two sons.
“I know they opened the store 7:30 in the morning and don’t close until 10, and they’re open seven days a week,” Rose DeMasi of South Philadelphia told NBC.
Murray was also charged with murdering fellow teen, Zyqueire Echevarria. The incident occurred on Oct. 14, 2019, at 7:11 p.m. The victim was a resident of the 400 block of Greenwich Street and was killed on the 1500 block of South Beulah Street.
Police told CBS that two teens on a bike rode up to three friends on a stoop and an argument began. During the argument, Murray allegedly pulled out a gun. The teens involved reported they didn’t run from Murray because they thought he only had a BB gun.
It was not reported by police how they came to charge or find Murray.
As of Jan. 20, there have been 29 homicides in the city according to Philly PD. This is an 81 percent increase from 2019.
