Police identified and are set to charge a suspect in last month's execution-style murder of a man and woman near a historic mansion in Philadelphia's Fairmount Park.
Lamar Young, 52, of Philadelphia, will be charged with murder, criminal conspiracy, violation of the uniform firearms act and other offenses in connection to the deaths of 38-year-old Krystina Chambers and 49-year-old Thurston Cooper, police said Tuesday.
On Feb. 29, around 11 p.m., police, firefighters and paramedics were called to the 3800 block of Mount Pleasant Drive for a report of a body found. When they arrived, they found Chambers suffering from gunshot wounds to the chest and head as well as Cooper suffering from a gunshot wound to the head.
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Both victims were unresponsive and lying next to each other in a gully on the side of the road, Philadelphia Police Chief Inspector Scott Small said. Police also found three spent shell casings near their bodies. They were both pronounced dead at the scene at 11:12 p.m. that night.
“At this point it appears that they were both shot and killed execution-style,” Small said at the time. “Not only because they’re lying next to each other. They both have gunshot wounds to the head.”
Investigators found surveillance cameras at the nearby Mount Pleasant Mansion, located about a half a block away from the crime scene.
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Police identified Young as a suspect in the shooting and he turned himself in earlier this month. They officially identified him and announced the charges against him on Tuesday.
While an arrest has been made, police said the motive behind the shooting remains unknown and they continue to investigate. Law enforcement sources also told NBC10 on Tuesday that they were searching for a female suspect in connection to the double murder though they have not yet revealed her identity.
On Wednesday morning, police officials said this second suspect voluntarily turned themselves in.
Mount Pleasant Mansion was built in the 1760s and was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1974. It’s currently administered by the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
There are additional resources for people or communities that have endured gun violence in Philadelphia. Further information can be found here.
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