South Street Shooting: Murder charges to be filed against 2 suspects, DA says

PHILADELPHIA - Two teenage murder suspects wanted in connection to the deadly South Street shooting were tracked down Thursday in Virginia, according to authorities. 

Quadir Dukes-Hill and Nahjee Whittington, both 18, were taken into custody at an apartment building in Richmond, Virginia by a team of U.S. Marshals. 

A law enforcement source told FOX 29's Kelly Rule that the apartment where the pair were hiding belongs to a friend who also may have ties to Philadelphia.

The arrests come one day after the Philadelphia Police Department shared photos of two men identified as third and fourth suspects in the shooting that killed three.

Officials say Dukes-Hill is facing murder charges in the shooting death of 24-year-old Alexis Quinn. Whittington, a Philadelphia resident, allegedly fired the shot that fatally struck 22-year-old Kristopher Minners and injured another person. 

According to sources, the guns that were found with the teens are believed to be the ones that were used in the deadly South Street shooting.

Dukes-Hill and Whittington join two other suspects who are also facing charges in last Saturday's shooting. Earlier in the week, the Philadelphia District Attorney's Office and local authorities reported the arrests of 18-year-old Quran Garner and 34-year-old Rashaan Vereen. 

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Authorities believe the deadly mass shooting happened when a fistfight between three men escalated into a gunfire. The DA's Office said that two of the combatants, Gregory Jackson and Micah Towns, were both licensed to carry.

Officials believe Jackson fired the first shot that critically wounded Towns, who returned fire and killed Jackson. The third man in the fracas, believed to be Vereen, was taken into custody Monday by a team of U.S. Marshals. 

The DA's office said Towns is not currently being charged in the shooting because he acted in self-defense. Days later, Mayor Jim Kenney called for Towns' arrest, saying Towns "acted in a way that created a chain of events that caused the death of at least two innocent people and the wounding a bunch of other innocent people and I don't think he should walk."

Amid the chaos, authorities said Garner - believed to be a friend of Towns' - fired towards the brawl. According to investigators, Garner was armed with a ghost gun equipped with an extended magazine and pointed the weapon at approaching officers. 

Police shot Garner in the hand which caused him to drop the gun and flee the scene, according to authorities. It's believed that he ran to the scene of an unrelated shooting blocks away where he told officers that he was shot on South Street.

Authorities said both Dukes-Hill and Whittington were not involved in the deadly brawl and only decided to fire when they heard the gunfire erupt. 

"The gunshots are happening "boom, boom, boom" and there are other people, they pull out their guns - I don't know what they could be thinking - but they fire and they hit two innocent people," Philadelphia Deputy Commissioner Ben Naish said. 

Officials say both teens have criminal records and Dukes-Hill was wanted for an outstanding warrant in Delaware County. A law enforcement source says Dukes-Hill was arrested for a carjacking in 2020 and a warrant was issued when he failed to appear for the charge. 

Authorities believe all the suspects in the deadly mass shooting are accounted for, but they're still actively investigating.