A man ‘ransacked’ a 93-year-old’s Philly home before killing him and selling his car for $900, prosecutors say
Coy Thomas has been charged with murder, robbery, and related crimes in connection with the slaying.
In the days after the killing of 93-year-old Lafayette Dailey on Dec. 3, authorities said, street surveillance cameras captured Coy Thomas behind the wheel of Dailey’s white 2007 Chrysler 300.
Then, they said, Thomas sold the car for $900.
On Monday, prosecutors with the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office released new details in their case against Thomas, who is charged with murder, robbery, and related crimes in connection with a slaying that unfolded quietly inside Dailey’s Logan home.
Surveillance footage from that day showed a man police believe to be Thomas walking through the front door of Dailey’s house in the 4500 block of N. 16th St. About 10 minutes later, prosecutors said, the man reemerged, slid behind the wheel of Dailey’s sedan, and drove away.
Two days later, police found Dailey dead inside the home. He had been stabbed several times in the chest.
His house had also been “ransacked,” said Assistant District Attorney Ashley Toczylowski, with “things thrown around,” indicating “there was a struggle” before Dailey was killed.
Police found no signs of forced entry. Thomas’ unhindered entrance into the home suggested that the men knew one another “in a neighborly way,” Toczylowski said. Thomas, 53, previously lived near Dailey, she said.
Thomas is also accused of stealing and using Dailey’s debit card before he was taken into custody on Sunday.
District Attorney Larry Krasner called the killing “evil,” adding: “Even the mob didn’t target seniors.”
Krasner asked anyone with information about the killing to call police.
“It’s in your hands to make sure that your energy and your eyes and your ears are tuned in, so that we can prevent this next time and we can get a just and appropriate remedy this time,” he said.