A teen girl and teen boy were both arrested and charged in the murder of an 18-year-old in Chester, Pennsylvania.
On January 25 at 11:44 a.m., police responded to a report of a suspicious male in the back of a home along the 1000 block of Baldwin Street. When they arrived they found the victim, later identified as 18-year-old Mekhi Harrison, unresponsive in the back of the property and suffering from a gunshot wound to the chest. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
On Wednesday, officials announced a 16-year-old girl and 17-year-old boy were both arrested and charged with criminal homicide and other related offenses in Harrison’s death. They did not reveal further details on the shooting but said it was not random.
The teen girl is being held at a juvenile facility while the teen boy is being held at Delaware County Prison. While both suspects were charged as adults, officials have not yet released their names.
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During a Wednesday morning press conference, Delaware County District Attorney Jack Stollsteimer mentioned the progress Chester had made in dramatically reducing gun violence through the Chester Partnership for Safe Neighborhoods initiative. He also acknowledged more work had to be done.
“It was evil that was done to this young man. These are all very young people who for whatever reason have access to firearms and think nothing of taking someone else’s life,” Stollsteimer said. “That’s what we’re fighting. That’s what we’re up against, is trying to change that mentality. We as parents, we as community members. All of us have to, every single time, we see a juvenile, who’s going astray, who’s getting access to firearms, we have to do what we can to tell them that that has to stop.”
