A suspect will most probably spend decades in prison if found guilty for shooting to death his ex-girlfriend, a mother of two minor children, in broad daylight while she was walking her minors home from school in an incident that took place last week.
According to the incident report, the suspect has been identified as the 28-year-old D. Crawford and he is accused of shooting three times to death his ex-girlfriend and faces multiple charges including murder, recklessly endangering another person and weapons charges, the local police department said in a release.
The fatal shooting took place last week on Friday in Pennsylvania when Crawford’s ex-girlfriend, identified as the 24-year-old S. Patton, was walking her 4-year-old twins home from school. Crawford fired three shots hitting Patton in the left chest, left arm and lower back leaving her dead in front of her children’s eyes.
The incident happened in the afternoon hours before 4 p.m. in a broad daylight. The victim was immediately taken to a local hospital for treatment, but despite doctor’s efforts to save her, she was pronounced dead shortly after.
The suspect initially fled the scene when first responders arrived at the scene. However, local authorities were able to quickly locate the shooter and he was arrested and jailed three days later on Monday. He was immediately charged and held in jail without bail. The shooter is scheduled to appear in court on December 14.
It is unclear whether he has retained an attorney who can speak on his behalf.
The police didn’t disclose the motive behind the shooting and it remains unclear what led to the fatal incident. As NBC 10 reported, Patton was in the process of getting a stay-away order to keep Crawford away from her before her death.
At a packed vigil for Patton on Saturday, well-wishers turned out to honor her memory, sending dozens of purple and white balloons into the sky, as they mourned her loss and celebrated her life.
“I’m suffering today,” her father, Joseph, told NBC10 at the vigil. “I lost my daughter because of senseless gun violence. She didn’t deserve what happened to her. No woman deserves that.”
“The gun violence in the city,” Joseph said. “This has to stop. You know this has to stop. I’m 60 years old and they’re killing women and children. Every day here in the city. There’s no respect and there’s no love for nobody no more. We can’t live like this. As a people we have to do better.”
As of Tuesday morning, there have been 497 reported homicides in the area, up 13% from the same time last year, which was ultimately one of the deadliest on record. Last week, police also reported at least 240 women had been shot this year, with 61 of them killed.
Joseph cried for his daughter — and for all the victims of gun violence.
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