In the last 24 hours, 4 people have died after a string of separate homicides in Philadelphia.
The first incident happened just before 2:30 a.m. on April 23. Police responded to the 3000 block of Ruth Street where police found 41-year-old Marisol Garcia-Infante unresponsive and lying on a bedroom floor in a pool of blood around her head.
Outside of the scene, a 43-year-old man approached police and said he struck the victim on the head with a hammer. He is charged with murder and possession of an instrument of crime.
The second incident occurred in the East Germantown section of Philadelphia. Police responded to reports of shots fired on the 5700 block of McMahon Street. When police arrived they found a 20-year-old man suffering from gunshot wounds to his head and lower midsection. He was transported to Einstein Medical Center where he was pronounced dead at 2:57 p.m. Sunday
A few hours later, police responded to another shooting in the Tacony section of Philadelphia. A 20-year-old man was shot under the left armpit on the 6900 block of Hegerman Street just after 5:15 p.m. Sunday Medics pronounced him dead at the scene.
The last incident occurred just after midnight on Monday in the Germantown section of Philadelphia. Police arrived at a home on East Penn Street where they saw a man with a gun in a holster running out a side door. A 22-year-old victim was shot in the neck, chest and arms and was pronounced dead at the scene. A suspect has been taken into custody.
Police said the two men were arguing in a third floor apartment when one shot the other. Earlier this month, Philadelphia Police spokesman Capt. Sekou Kinebrew told NBC10 most homicides are the result of an argument.
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He added that these arguments are not necessarily between friends, relatives or even people who know each other. They are “disputes that turn violent,” Kinebrew said.
Philadelphia's homicide rate is trending up compared to this time last year. However, last year's numbers also appeared to be on the rise at mid-year but leveled out by December, Kinebrew said.
According to Philadelphia Police, the year-to-date number of homicides in the city is 94—up 13 from this time last year, when the number was 81 homicides. At the end of 2016, 278 people were victims of homicide.
The string of homicides was followed by another shooting inside a home in Southwest Philadelphia Monday morning. Police say a teen attempted to wake a friend for school by tapping him on the face with a gun and accidentally shot him in the eye, leaving him in critical condition.
