Teenagers charged in the murder of a 15-year-old from Philadelphia who was shot in the head while drawing water from the family car

Two teenagers are facing murder charges for shooting 15-year-old Sean Toomey in the head outside his Philadelphia home as he was carrying groceries inside for his family.

Last week, Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner announced that Daniel Gardee and Saahir Teagle – both 17 – were in custody and would be charged in the March 24 murder of Toomey.

The two teenage suspects have since been linked to an attempted robbery of a woman at an ATM as well as an attempted car theft in an apartment complex parking lot. Residents described hearing gunshots fired in the air the same day Toomey was later found lying outside his family’s home in the 6200 block of Mulberry Street in northeast Philadelphia with a wound shot in the head.

The 15-year-old, whose family said he got out to carry a case of water from the family car, was rushed to Jefferson-Torresdale Hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries after- following noon.

Four fired 9mm cartridge cases were recovered, but no weapons were recovered from the scene.

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On March 29, Gardee was arrested by Miami Beach police for assault and public disorder, although he was not identified as a suspect in Toomey’s murder at that time.

Weeks later, Philadelphia police responded to an incident at an Airbnb where multiple firearms were recovered and both Teagle and Gardee were arrested. Teagle was arrested and charged with unlawful possession of a firearm and his firearm was recovered by police, although he was not identified as a wanted suspect in Toomey’s murder at the time.

Prosecutors said ATF officers arrested a man in Philadelphia on June 9 for carjacking and related offenses. The suspect then provided information relating to an attempted ATM robbery on March 24 with two of his friends. The April 14 Airbnb incident helped investigators piece together Gardee and Teagle’s roles in the fatal Toomey shooting.

The third individual is not believed to have been involved in the Toomey shooting or to have been with Gardee and Teagle at the time, prosecutors said.

The district attorney’s office approved the murder charges for Gardee and Teagle on June 13, and Toomey’s family was notified that day that the warrants were issued. No arrests were made at that time.

Gardee turned himself in to Philadelphia police on June 22. He was arraigned on murder, conspiracy and related charges related to the fatal shooting. Teagle was in custody in Camden County, New Jersey, where he was under judicial supervision and was to be returned to Philadelphia for arrest and arraignment on murder and related charges, the district attorney’s office said in a statement. Press.

The announcement comes after Toomey’s father, John Toomey, and relatives of Philadelphia violent crime victims gathered in the rotunda of the state Capitol building in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania for a press conference over earlier this month, lambasting Krasner and calling for his ouster in the face of a growing sense of lawlessness in what was once known as the City of Brotherly Love.

“It’s all about guilt. As people of this country, all we can do is raise our children the best we can. That’s it. It’s the best we can do. And we demand something from the government – someone who does terrible acts like this and those behind me should be in jail,” the elder Toomey said.

“The prosecutor is guilty. It is not his responsibility to act as defense counsel for those who are in prison,” added the father of the slain boy. “He is guilty towards us, this man. This individual calls himself a man. Who is going to bring him back – my boy? Let’s depose this son of ab ****.”

In announcing the arrests and charges in Toomey’s murder, Krasner released a statement highlighting the flow of illegal weapons in Philadelphia and not his own failure to keep illegal offenders behind bars.

“Sean Toomey was a child full of promise and hope, like all children. The great potential he held was shattered in the blink of an eye by armed strangers,” Krasner said in a June 23 statement. . “Sean Toomey should be alive today and look forward to the rest of his life. To those who knew and loved him: The loss of Sean’s life is a grave injustice, and we are heartbroken and outraged by his dead.”

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“I want to thank our law enforcement partners, including the Philadelphia Police Department and the Philadelphia ATF, for their work on this complex investigation. When unregistered, untraceable firearms leak like water because of permissive gun laws that favor industry profits at the expense of people’s lives, seemingly random shootings that are not captured on camera or seen by witnesses can be difficult to solve,” Krasner added. “As my office seeks accountability in the courts for those who pull the trigger and destroy lives, we will also continue to steadfastly defend gun safety regulations that the majority of Americans support and that our communities deserve.”