Teen gunned down in North Philadelphia Monday is the city’s latest homicide victim

A 17-year-old boy became Philadelphia’s latest homicide victim after he was fatally shot in the face in the 2100 block of Jefferson Street in North Philadelphia on Monday night.

The slaying of the teen, identified by police Tuesday morning as Dreyon Hart of the 2300 block of North College Avenue, comes as shootings across the city are on the rise and young people are increasingly falling victim to bullets.

On Saturday, Jaquan Williams, 15, was shot in the head in the 4000 block of Cambridge Street just after 4 p.m., police said. Williams, of the 100 block of North Peach Street, died of his injures Sunday afternoon at Penn Presbyterian Medical Center, authorities said.

On Monday, a 19-year-old man was shot in the right thigh, right ankle, right buttocks, and abdomen just after 10 a.m. in the 2100 block of North 20th Street, police said. He was transported to Temple University Hospital, where he is in critical condition, they said.

Also on Monday, a 13-year-old boy was shot in the left foot near the intersection of 57th Street and Haverford Avenue in West Philadelphia. He was transported to a hospital and listed in stable condition, police said.

Two teens survived gunshots at separate locations in the city Saturday. A 17-year-old boy was shot twice in the back and once in the stomach in the 1300 block of East Price Street at 1:19 p.m. He is in critical condition at Einstein Medical Center, police said. At 4:18 p.m., an 18-year-old was shot in the back and was driven by private vehicle to Chestnut Hill Hospital, where he was listed in stable condition, police said.

No arrests have been made in any of the teens’ shootings.

So far this year, 15 people under the age of 18 have been shot, compared with 8 at the same time last year and 1 at the same time in 2019, police said.

As of midnight Monday, there had been 27 homicides in the city compared with 28 at the same time last year, according to the Police Department. Arrests have been made in only three of the slayings.

On Saturday, police arrested Davis Josephus, 20, and charged him in the death of Milan Loncar, 25, a recent Temple University graduate who was fatally shot while walking his dog in Brewerytown.

Also on Saturday, Shakirah Jones, 29, was charged with murder and related counts in the Jan. 13 slaying of David Oliver, 48, who was shot by a still at-large gunman. “The defendant is not the one who pulled the trigger, but she’s on video telling the shooter to go finish him off,” Homicide Unit Capt. Jason Smith said in an interview Tuesday.

The shooting stemmed from an argument involving the victim, Jones, her mother, and a gunman. The dispute started in a speakeasy and spilled outside onto the 2200 block of South 7th Street, Smith said. Oliver, he said, was clashing with Jones, her mother, and the gunman, who is dating the mother, when the gunman fired. Police have issued arrest warrants for the mother and the gunman, who are still at large.

In the first slaying of the year, William Croumbley, 27, was arrested Jan. 2 for the New Year’s Day shooting death of Rudolph Ebinger, 37, of the 2300 block of Front Street. Police said the victim was shot in the 100 block of Ritner Street at 12:30 a.m. and was pronounced dead within an hour at Jefferson University Hospital.

Police said the shooting followed an argument between strangers. Ebinger was walking down the street with his wife and children, Smith said, when Croumbley came out of his house, cursing.

“‘Yo, could you not curse in front of my kids?’” Smith quoted Ebinger as saying.

Croumbley took offense, he said: “They get in an argument and Croumbley pulls out a gun and shoots him in the stomach. Terrible.”