Quadir Dukes-Hill and Nahjee Whittington, the 18-year-old men accused of killing of two bystanders in the South Street mass shooting, were back in Philadelphia Thursday and arraigned on murder charges.
Dukes-Hill, of Drexel Hill in Delaware County, and Whittington, of Philadelphia, are friends and fled together to Virginia after the June 4 shooting that, in all, left three people dead and 11 injured.
A team of U.S. Marshals caught the pair on June 9 at an apartment complex in Richmond, Virginia.
The men were extradited to Philadelphia Wednesday, Philadelphia Police said. The Philadelphia District Attorney's Office said both men would be held without bail.
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Dukes-Hill was charged with murdering 24-year-old Alexis Quinn, while Nahjee Whittington was charged with murdering 22-year-old Kris Minners, the DA's Office said. At the time of the shooting, Whittington was four days shy of turning 18 years old.
Lawyers for both men have yet to respond to NBC10's request for comment Thursday.
The shooting was sparked after a fight among three men who fired at each other, authorities have said. Dukes-Hill and Whittington were down the street and opened fire despite not knowing the initial three men, Assistant District Attorney Joanne Pescatore said.
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"It does not appear that these groups knew each other. This to me seems to be that Mr. Whittington and Mr. Dukes-Hill, in response to gun shots that were happening down the street, just took out their gun and randomly fired. And unfortunately Alexis Quinn was hit by a shot fired by Mr. Dukes-Hill and Mr. Minners was hit by a shot fired by Mr. Whittington," the ADA said.
Two other people were already in custody in connection to the original fight and shootout that preceded the gunfire by Whittington and Dukes-Hill. Police Chief Inspector Ben Naish said last week that it was now believed that all shooters in the incident were in custody.
There are additional resources for people or communities that have endured gun violence in Philadelphia. Further information can be found here.
