Man wanted for 2 Philly homicides, including his mother, now charged in 2 Delaware killings

The Delaware state attorney general on Tuesday announced that a 39-year-old man wanted in Philadelphia for the shooting death of his mother, as well as a Dunkin’ Donuts manager and two other people in the city, has been charged with two homicides in Delaware and committing violent crimes against four others.

Keith Gibson, who has a long history of violence and had been released from prison last year after serving a sentence for manslaughter, is now accused of a deadly crime rampage that includes the fatal May 15 shooting of Leslie Ruiz-Basilio, 28, during a robbery of a Metro PCS store in Elsmere, Del.

On June 5, Gibson allegedly shot and killed Ronald Wright, 42, during a street robbery in Delaware, and assaulted another victim. Gibson then robbed or assaulted three other people over the next three days. He is charged with attempted murder in one of the attacks.

Gibson is charged with murder in the deaths of Ruiz-Basilio and Wright.

Gibson, who is charged with a total of 41 felonies in Delaware, was also arrested on June 8 for an armed robbery of a Rite Aid in Wilmington. He was captured a block away from the Rite Aid and allegedly was wearing a body-armor ballistic vest. He remains in custody pending a trial.

“This indictment lays out one of the most vicious, staggering crime sprees I’ve seen in my career,” Delaware Attorney General Kathy Jennings said in a statement.

“It is even more disturbing to think, based on what investigators have revealed in Pennsylvania, that this may just be the tip of the iceberg. We have assigned some of the DOJ’s [state Department of Justice] most experienced prosecutors to this case and we will ensure that this man faces justice for the senseless carnage that he has caused,” Jennings said.

Jennings did not provide a last known address for Gibson but described him as a Pennsylvania man.

Gibson has nine prior felony convictions and more than a dozen probation violations. In 2010, he was convicted of manslaughter for the 2008 robbery and fatal shooting of a man in Wilmington. Gibson was paroled in June 2020.

He was sent to a community corrections facility and soon afterward got in trouble for fighting and was sentenced to another six months in prison and a year-and-a-half probation.

Gibson was released in December and told officials he was homeless and requested a transfer to Philadelphia. At the time, he was prohibited from leaving Delaware and from carrying a firearm. The transfer was later approved.

On Feb. 8, Gibson’s mother, Christine, a 54-year-old mental-health counselor, was found shot to death at her place of work in Philadelphia.

Probation officials filed a violation against Gibson after his mother was found dead. They alleged he was in Philadelphia, which violated the terms of his release on the manslaughter conviction.

In an April court hearing, probation officers described Gibson as having a “very extensive history of violence” and recommended that Superior Court Judge Vivian L. Medinilla sentence him to 6½ years in prison.

Two weeks later, on April 27, Gibson’s public defender told the judge he had community support and job prospects if he were to be released immediately. The judge sentenced Gibson to 30 days and granted him time served, meaning he was released that day on probation.

Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner last month approved murder charges against Gibson for both the death of his mother and for the killing of the Dunkin’ Donuts manager.

Police said the manager, 40-year-old Christine Lugo, was shot in the head inside the Dunkin’ Donuts on the 500 block of Lehigh Avenue after she gave Gibson $300 while being threatened at gunpoint.

Police have said that Gibson also is a suspect in the January fatal shootings of two men in a North Philadelphia store. A Philadelphia police spokesperson, Officer Tanya Little, said Tuesday evening in an email that city homicide detectives are “actively working on having charges completed” for that double homicide.