Man wanted for murder turns himself in following City Avenue killing

A North Philadelphia man wanted in connection with a fatal shooting Sunday night on City Avenue near St. Joseph’s University turned himself in Tuesday, Montgomery County authorities said.

Tyreese Quinerley, 39, was taken into custody just before 2 p.m., hours after the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office announced a warrant for his arrest. He is set to be charged with murder.

Quinerly is accused of killing 39-year-old Jefferson Shackford at around 10:45 p.m. Sunday at the corner of City and Cardinal avenues, on the Lower Merion Township side of the city line border.

Prosecutors said Quinerly called 911 and told responding officers that he pulled his van over to help Shackford, who was laying unresponsive on the sidewalk. Officers, after identifying Quinerly, allowed him to leave the scene.

Later, law enforcement said, medics transporting Shackford to the hospital noticed that he had been shot multiple times. Shackford, who authorities believe was homeless, died of his injuries at Lankenau Medical Center.

Detectives reviewed surveillance footage that showed Quinerly stopping his van for more than 15 minutes near the intersection before dragging Shackford out of the vehicle, according to the Montgomery County DA’s Office.

Two witnesses, who were in a car driving on City Avenue at the time, told investigators they saw a man matching Quinerly’s description get out of the driver’s seat of the van and fire shots into the vehicle, authorities said.

Police allegedly discovered a phone believed to belong to Quinerly inside a fenced-in construction zone about 30 feet away from the scene of the shooting. Prosecutors said cell phone records show multiple calls between Quinerly and Shackford on Saturday, April 13.

When officers arrived Sunday night, Quinerly was talking to a woman on the phone, according to authorities. She allegedly told detectives that the two men were from the same neighborhood and that she knew Shackford as “Creek.”

Shackford had “King Creek” tattooed across his stomach, and Quinerly, the DA’s Office said, referred to the victim as “Creek” during the 911 call.

Early reports incorrectly stated that the incident was related to a different shooting that occurred at around the same time in West Philadelphia. Police also initially thought Shackford was shot somewhere else and dropped on City Avenue.

Despite its proximity to the school’s campus, the killing does not appear to have any connection to St. Joe’s, a spokesperson from the DA’s Office said.

Quinerly, in addition to murder, will be charged with firearm violations, prosecutors said. His legal representation could not be identified Tuesday.

He was out on bail at the time of the shooting. Quinerly was charged early last year with illegally possessing a gun without a serial number – known as a “ghost gun” – after he was shot in October 2022 in Manayunk.

Quinerly was shot in his head and back during an argument with another man, and officers responding to the shooting found the gun on the floor of his van, investigators alleged in court documents. He did not have a permit, and prior felony convictions prevent him from owning firearms.

Court records show that he was released after posting $7,500, 10% of his $75,000 bond. A trial in the case is scheduled for September.