Man sentenced to 2 life sentences for 2023 Philly double murder

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PHILADELPHIA - A Philadelphia man was convicted this week and sentenced to two life sentences for a double murder that happened in Olney in 2023.

Two life sentences

What we know:

Sabir Bunch was sentenced to two consecutive life sentences plus another 19–39 years for the murders of Joshua Chisholm and Paris Gary in 2023, the Philadelphia District Attorney's Office announced on Tuesday.

2023 double murder

The backstory:

The shooting happened on North Third Street in the Olney neighborhood of Philadelphia on Aug. 3, 2023. According to prosecutors, Gary was at a local hospital with Bunch shortly before the shooting.

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That's when Chisholm picked them up and brought them home. Shortly later, Paris joined Chisholm and Bunch at Bunch's home. Around 7:30 p.m. gunshots rang out. Chisholm runs out of the house, and collapses on the ground across the street, dead. Police found Gary dead in the house. Both men had been shot multiple times.

Surveillance video showed Bunch running out the back door, jumping over fences to get away. About an hour after the shooting, police responded to a report of a burglary at a home on West Spencer Street. There, they found Bunch shirtless, hiding behind bushes outside. When officers recovered Bunch's clothes, they tested positive for gunshot residue. 

Victims' families respond

What they're saying:

Chisholm and Paris' families reacted to the sentencing on Tuesday.

"Joshua was a remarkable individual, an exemplary son, father, brother, and friend," said Chisholm's mother, Diana DeVaughn. "While I will not have the chance to see Joshua again, his legacy will live on. I am profoundly grateful for the justice that has been served in his case, as well as that of Petey [Paris Gary]."

Denis Wells, Gary's mother, said "my son was a gentle giant. He went above and beyond for so many people. He was a tattoo artist, and barber, he helped the elderly. For his life to be taken for a reason we'll never know is devastating. He leaves me with five beautiful children, who I love so much. Some how, some way, the gun violence has to stop. No mother should have to be standing in my shoes."