Two women are in police custody as investigators continue to search for more suspects in the brutal beating -- involving a hammer, a piece of wood and Mace -- at a Philadelphia gas station earlier this week.
Police arrested Shareena Joachim, 24, and Aleathea Gillard, 34, and charged both with attempted murder, aggravated assault, possessing instruments of crime and related offenses, court records show.
Witnesses reported that during the attack one of the woman screamed about marks on the face of a child, who could be seen in the end of surveillance footage that captured the attack, indicating the 51-year-old victim had hit the boy.
Investigators have not confirmed an earlier altercation with the child prompted the violent attack, which left the victim hospitalized with severe head injuries.
Aside from Joachim and Gillard, the surveillance video shows at least four others jump from a minivan and rush the man as he stood outside the Sunoco gas station at 5th Street and Somerville Ave in the city's Olney Tuesday evening. Next they punched and stomped the man, even striking him with a hammer.
Once the attackers finished their violent assault, one of the women grabbed a boy from the minivan and brought him over to the injured man.
"One of the women was screaming look at my child's face," said Brittney Horsey, a witness. "He did this to my child's face."
At that point, the group got back in the minivan and sped off.
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Joachim and Gilliard were arrested earlier this week when officers spotted the minivan seen in the video and found them inside.
The victim was listed Friday in critical condition at Albert Einstein Medical Center in critical condition with severe head injuries.
Detectives are still searching for the other people involved in the attack. Anyone with information is asked to call the police tipline at 215.686.TIPS.
