Fourth suspect in murder of Philadelphia teen captured in Atlanta
Jahlil Williams and three others are being held responsible for the November shooting death of 14-year-old Samir Johnson.
PHILADELPHIA - A fourth suspect in the November murder of a Philadelphia teenager was arrested Tuesday in Atlanta, according to federal authorities.
Jahlil Williams, 23, was taken into custody by U.S. Marshals Tuesday morning, two months after authorities issued an arrest warrant in the killing of 14-year-old Samir Jefferson.
Qadir Johnson, 20, and Kyair Garnett were arrested and charged with murder and other crimes in the wake of Jefferson's death. Haneef Roberson, another suspect in Jefferson's murder, was arrested near Atlanta in early January.
"Our sincerest hope is that this arrest will help bring some semblance of closure to the Jefferson family, and to Samir’s fellow 9th graders who were impacted by this senseless murder," U.S. Marshal for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania Eric Gartner said.
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Investigators believe on Nov. 29 two suspects got out of a car and chased Jefferson down the street while firing about 35 rounds from two guns.
Jefferson ran a block before collapsing, according to police. He was rushed to Temple University Hospital where he was pronounced dead.
According to the Philadelphia District Attorney's Office, Garnett had an outstanding bench warrant out of Montgomery County at the time of his arrest.
"Unless one of the individuals responsible for that shooting is going to tell us why in the world three twenty-something-year-old individuals would track down and shoot an unarmed and defenseless 14-year-old, we have no specific direction at this point," Deputy Commissioner Ben Naish said of their investigation into a motive.
No official motive has been shared by investigators, but Deputy Commissioner Ben Naish said one possibility could be a fight at Thomas A. Edison High School - where Jefferson was a freshman.
Jefferson's mother, Desiree Goodson, told FOX 29’s Kelly Rule that Samir had sent a recording of a fight to someone on Instagram shortly before he was shot and killed.
"They got all these different people that shoot a 14-year-old kid," Goodson said. "All my son did was play ball, listen to music, and joke. That’s all he did."
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