Kimbrady Carriker: Suspect in 2023 mass shooting in West Philadelphia pleads guilty
Kimbrady Carriker pleads guilty in 2023 deadly mass shooting
Kimbrady Carriker, 43, pleaded guilty Wednesday to killing five people during a mass shooting spree in West Philadelphia during the summer of 2023.
PHILADELPHIA - A Philadelphia man pleaded guilty to killing five people during a mass shooting spree in West Philadelphia during the summer of 2023.
What we know:
Kimbrady Carriker, 43, pleaded guilty to five counts of murder and five counts of attempted murder in the violent rampage.
Carriker was sentenced to 37.5 to 75 years in prison for the killings, officials announced on Wednesday.
The backstory:
The July 3 shooting began near the intersection of 56th and Chester streets, and continued onto Frazier Street where police managed to corner Carriker in an alley.
The five victims who lost their lives were identified as Daujan Brown, 15, Lashyd Merritt, 20, Dymir Stanton, 29, Joseph Wamah Jr., 31, and Ralph Moralis, 59.
Wamah Jr. is believed to have been killed the night before the July 3 shooting and was found dead inside a Kingsessing home hours after the shooting.
A 2-year-old boy and a 13-year-old boy were among five other people who were injured.
Carriker was wearing a bulletproof vest and armed with an AR-15 style rifled – which was later determined to be a ghost gun – when he surrendered.
Another handgun, along with ammunition that matched shell casings found at the scene, were recovered during a search of the suspect's home.
Carriker's mental state was previously called into question after witnesses told police Carriker exhibited "abnormal behavior" prior to the deadly shooting.
What they're saying:
A neighbor who previously spoke to FOX 29 News said Carriker told him days before the shooting that he was a "town watchman."
In another report, Carriker's grandmother claimed he told her that he always carried a gun for protection.
"He said everybody should have one," she said. "I never seen the gun he had, he just told me he had it."
Those who lived with Carriker said it was normal for him to keep guns in the house and wear a vest.
They claimed he was becoming more agitated days before the shooting.
Carriker's grandmother explained that the shooting left his family "devastated."
"He didn’t come off like that. You see him one way and then you see something like that and it’s not connecting, so they’re devastated," she said.