A teen plunged a kitchen knife into his housemate’s chest last Thursday during a verbal dispute, leaving his friend for dead on a Grays Ferry sidewalk outside their dwelling, police said.
Shortly after 10 p.m. on the 2400 block of Kimball Street, police found 26-year-old Daniel Martin bleeding profusely from a wound to his chest, Officer Beth DiDonato of the Police Public Affairs Unit said. Martin was pronounced dead at 10:35 p.m. at Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania.
The next day, Eric Carter, 19, was charged with Martin’s murder and possession of an instrument of crime, Homicide Lt. Mel Williams said, adding the blade was recovered, but detectives do not know what triggered the bloodshed.
Missing pieces
Detectives are waiting for a shooting victim to be upgraded from critical to stable condition at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital before they interview him.
The 30-year-old was shot once in the chest shortly before 2 a.m. Friday on the 1500 block of Tasker Street, Detective Joe Chiaro of South Detective Division said.
Police recovered two 9mm spent casings at the scene but need input from the victim to piece together what happened, Chiaro said.
To report information, call South Detectives at 215-686-3013.
Shooter flees in car
After pumping one bullet into a 44-year-old’s right leg, a gunman got into a dark-colored auto and took off in an unknown direction. Investigators do not know if the shooter exited the car before inflicting the damage, or if he simply walked up to his victim in last Thursday’s 8:30 p.m. incident, Detective Joe Chiaro of South Detectives said.
Seventeenth District police discovered the victim on the 2800 block of Wharton Street, where he had been involved in a verbal altercation with the offender before being shot. Police recovered one .40-caliber cartridge at the scene.
The wounded man went to HUP in stable condition.
To report information, call South Detectives at 215-686-3013.
Hefty heist
Two bandits mugged a woman of $800 at gunpoint Monday as she walked on the 1800 block of Rosewood Street.
The pair approached the 57-year-old at 9:30 p.m. and demanded money, Detective Joe Chiaro of South Detectives said. One held the lady at gunpoint while the other grabbed her handbag before both took off on foot in an unknown direction.
The perpetrators were described as black, ages 25 to 27 with thin builds and wearing dark clothing.
To report information, call South Detectives at 215-686-3013.
Gun-toting man arrested
Police on foot patrol arrested a man after they spotted him walking on the 500 block of Reed Street with a semi-automatic Uzi-type gun.
Dwayne Shaw, 22, from the 400 block of Christian Street, was charged with three firearms offenses: carrying without a license, carrying in the street and an obliterated serial number, Detective Joe Chiaro of South Detectives said.
Police spotted Shaw at about 10:40 p.m. last Thursday with the Tech 9 that had an extended magazine loaded with more than 25 rounds, the detective said. After a brief foot chase, law enforcement caught up to the suspect on the 500 block of Greenwich Street.
Coach surrenders to police
By Bill Gelman and Lorraine Gennaro
Review staff writers
A Neumann-Goretti High School assistant girls’ basketball coach surrendered to police Aug. 20 for allegedly having a two-year affair with a 14-year-old player, who is now 16, Lt. Mike Boyle of the Special Victims Unit told the Review. The lieutenant said he did not know which team the girl was a member of since the defendant, Carolyn Hayes, 42, of the 900 block of South 13th Street, coached girls’ junior varsity at Neumann-Goretti and a Next Level Amateur Athletic Union team. As of yesterday, no other victims had come forward in the case, Boyle added.
Hayes’ preliminary hearing was continued from Aug. 28 to Nov. 14, and she was charged with contact with a minor; aggravated indecent assault without consent; statutory sexual assault; sexual assault; corruption of minors; indecent exposure; and indecent assault, according to court records. The relationship between the teen and adult lasted from January 2005 to February ’07, court records stated.
The Neumann-Goretti girls’ basketball program is still feeling the shock waves from last week’s arrest.
"Obviously, everybody is upset," Chip Reitano, the school’s head girls’ basketball coach and athletic director, said. "It’s hard to accept the shock. Everybody in the program believes in [Hayes].
"She worked as hard as anybody to get these kids ready for tough competition."
Reitano said the information of Hayes’ relationship was brought to the school’s attention last week by police, at which point she was called into the school and suspended from her post. She joined the staff during the ’05-’06 season and served as a junior varsity assistant before taking over as freshman head coach last year. Reitano said filling the post isn’t an immediate concern.
"It’s something I haven’t thought about yet," he said. "I am not going to wait until November, but I am more concerned with the mental state of our kids and the program staying on course.
"We’re not going to skip a beat. We’re going to keep going strong."
Hayes played on the former St. Maria Goretti’s 1982 Southern Division championship basketball team, and graduated a year later. She remained active by spending 12 years coaching Catholic Youth Organization athletes at St. Charles Borromeo. When the program ended with the school’s closing in ’03, she started Next Level AAU, which was South Philadelphia’s first girls’ program. During summer ’06, the organization fielded three teams: age 11 and under, 13 and under and 15 and under.
The Saints are doing their best to try and move forward in light of the shocking events.
"I’ve taken the lead as far as talking to the kids and doing my best to keep them on course," Reitano said.
Gun sales suspended
First it was on, then it was off and now it’s back on again.
Aug. 23, Gov. Ed Rendell announced there would be no gun sales in Pennsylvania from 6 p.m. Sept. 2 to noon Sept. 6 in order to upgrade the state’s computerized background check system. Getting heat from gun enthusiasts, hunters and Republican lawmakers, Rendell reconsidered — convening an ad-hoc committee to meet with state police Aug. 28. The findings determined it would be best to push back the shutdown to at least January.
Yesterday, Rendell announced the suspension was back on because, according to his press secretary Chuck Ardo, the committee could not agree on a more suitable specific time, therefore the original proposal stands.
Instead of ending Thursday as previously planned, the suspension will finish 6 p.m. Wednesday. Meanwhile, a lawsuit filed by gun dealers who contend the upgrade interferes with their right to sell is pending, Ardo said. "I think this is more about partisan politics than any inconvenience to hunters," he added.
The governor chose the first week of September because, according to state police records, that is the least-busy time for gun sales.
"There is no argument from anyone that the system must be upgraded. They have to shut down the system. There really is no way to do this incrementally. There really is no perfect time," Ardo said. According to state police estimates, an excess of 40 million records need to be transferred from the old system to the new.
Lt. Steve Biello of South Detectives, who is president of the Philadelphia Hunting and Shooting Association, said the suspension could not happen at a worse time since dove and early Canada goose season starts Sept. 1 in the tri-state area. "For the state police and the politicians in Harrisburg not to realize that the timing of this gun sale shutdown is at probably the worst possible time tells me that they really don’t know or don’t care about the hunting population of the state — who are also a large part of the voting population of this state," Biello said.
The lieutenant believes January or February would be the best for such an overhaul because it does not interfere with hunting season nor does he believe there is much of a demand for firearms at that time. "Someone in Harrisburg should know or simply have inquired," the lieutenant said of the timing factor. "The Pennsylvania Game Commission, also in Harrisburg, would have been a great place to start asking questions."
—Lorraine Gennaro
