Delaware County District Attorney Jack Whelan led a team of members from his office, the Chester Police Department, and the county's Criminal Investigation Division in a door-to-door hunt for leads Friday in the shooting death of a man in Chester last Memorial Day.
27-year-old Devon Williams was shot at around 1 p.m. on May 28, 2012. The main clue to the identity of his killer is surveillance camera footage found near the crime scene. Police originally charged 23-year-old Tahmir Craig with the killing, but he was released last month after an analysis of photographs taken from the video determined that Craig was too short to have been the killer. The man who shot Williams, investigators say, stood 5 feet, 11 inches tall. Craig is only 5 feet, 5 inches tall.
On Friday, Whelan's team distributed 500 fliers bearing the wanted man's photo and canvassed eight blocks around the scene of the homicide, the 2100 block of Edgmont Avenue in Chester. Whelan told the Delaware County Times that his team had come up with a handful of leads, and officers would follow up with several residents who preferred to speak to authorities privately.
Whelan said that Friday's walk, in addition to finding leads in Williams' killing, was aimed at improving the relationship between law enforcement officials and the larger community.
“We always try to establish a relationship with the residents and the community,” Whelan said. “We hope that we’re building a relationship of trust.”
Anyone with information regarding the killing of Devon Williams is asked to contact Delaware County detective Michael Jay at (601) 891-4711 or Chester Police Detective Michael Collins at (610) 447-8431.
