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Rachel King murder: 2 suspects in murder-for-hire plot of Philadelphia teacher appear in court
Two suspects in the murder-for-hire plot of a Philadelphia school teacher who was gunned down while in a fast food drive-thru with her young son appeared in court Tuesday.
CHELTENHAM, Pa. - Jury selection will start Monday in the murder trial of Rachel King, a Philadelphia teacher who was gunned down in a Dunkin' Donuts drive-thru line with her 11-year-old son in the car.
Prosecutors say King, 35, was shot to death by 33-year-old Zakkee Steven Alhakim outside the Dunkin' Donuts in the Melrose Shopping Center in Cheltenham on Apr. 11, 2023. Investigators believe Alhakim stalked King from her home at the Lynnewood Garden Apartments to the Dunkin' Donuts where he walked up to her car and fired several shots.
It's alleged that Alhakim was hired by Julie Jean, 34, who prosecutors say had an affair with King's longtime boyfriend, William Hayes. When Hayes broke off his relationship with Jean, investigators say she harassed both Hayes and King, which prompted Hayes to obtain a Protection From Abuse Order against Jean.
Rachel King murder: 2 suspects in murder-for-hire plot of Philadelphia teacher appear in court
Two suspects in an alleged murder-for-hire plot of a Philadelphia school teacher who was gunned down while in a fast food drive-thru with her young son appeared in court Tuesday.
Jean, according to investigators, met Alhakim through the father of her three children and saved his number on her phone in mid-February. Investigators say the pair met multiple times leading up to the murder, and Alhakim saved photos of King on his phone and a map to her residence in Cheltenham.
Julie Jean (L) and Zakkee Alhakim (R) (Montgomery County District Attorneys Office)
Alhakim and Jean are accused of buying a Mercury Sable that was used in the murder from a dealership in Philadelphia just weeks before the murder. The Mercury was spotted by police in Philadelphia on the day of King's murder in connection to an unrelated deadly shooting in Philadelphia on Apr. 7.
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Alhakim fled in the Mercury when police tried to stop him and crashed into a fence where he was taken into custody and later charged in the Philadelphia murder. Investigators later matched the fired shell casings from the Philadelphia homicide to the shells found after King's murder, and concluded the deadly shots were fired from a "ghost gun."
Alhakim and Jean were both charged with first and third-degree murder in the killing of King, and both are being held without bail at a Montgomery County prison.