A manhunt is underway for the husband of a woman who was killed last week inside the spa the couple ran together in Germantown.
Rashida Irvin, 48, died just after 6:30 p.m. Monday, Aug. 11, after being shot several times in her torso, according to police. Investigators said officers found her in a bathroom after a passerby heard gunfire coming from inside Mister Relaxation Men’s Spa & Lounge, on the 6300 block of Germantown Avenue.
Earlier this week, homicide detectives identified 55-year-old Kyle Irvin as being wanted in connection with Rashida’s murder and asked for the public’s help in locating him. The PPD described the motive as “domestic.”
A neighbor, who characterized the spa as “the nicest place on the block,” said they saw Kyle leaving in a car that he did not usually drive shortly before a group of police cruisers descended on the area on the day of the shooting.
Irvin had not been apprehended when Metro went to print Tuesday. Anyone with information is asked to connect the PPD’s Homicide Unit at 215-686-3334; call or text 215-686-TIPS (8477); or dial 911. The city offers a $20,000 reward for tips leading to an arrest and conviction in a murder case.
The Irvins opened Mister Relaxation “to normalize self-care within men,” Rashida told “Good Day Philadelphia” during an April 2023 feature about Black-owned businesses on the Fox29 morning show.
“Men are most comfortable at the barber shop, so what we did was create a barbershop with some extra amenities,” she said in the clip.
Manicures, pedicures, massages, facials, beard treatments, and barbering services – all designed for men – are offered, and the business’s unique concept has attracted additional media coverage.
In a segment two years ago on ABC’s Localish, Rashida said Kyle is an experienced barber with decades of experience, and he added, “You have your wife, and that’s the best business partner that, I really feel as though, you can have.”
Property records show Rashida purchased the building, which includes an upstairs residential unit, seven years ago. The spa, located along a cobblestone-lined strip of Germantown, is painted black with a black awning.
Shakerra Horn, owner of Avenue Omni Agency, a digital marketing company, said she learned so much from Rashida. She was passionate about giving women employment and business opportunities, Horn added.
After Horn relocated from Maryland to Philadelphia nearly three years ago, Mister Relaxation was one of her first clients.
“She just was an amazing businesswoman,” Horn, who handled social media for the spa, told Metro. “She just was always having community events. She was always trying to get people a job or a chance.”
Horn was working with Mister Relaxation on a mobile app, and she said Rashida was exploring the possibility of expanding the spa with a location in North Carolina.
“She was such a pillar in the community, and she’s going to be really missed,” she remarked.
Anyone impacted by domestic violence can call the Philadelphia domestic violence hotline at 866-723-3014. Additional resources are available through the city’s Office of Domestic Violence Strategies at phila.gov/departments/office-of-domestic-violence-strategies.
