Philly DA announces charges against 2 suspects in 2022 Kensington mass shooting that left 9 injured

Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner announced attempted murder charges against two suspects in a 2022 mass shooting in Kensington that left nine people wounded and that prosecutors say was retaliation for a robbery, turning the neighborhood into a “war zone.”

Michael Smith-Davis, of the 2500 block of North Cleveland Street, was arrested Thursday on Kensington Avenue and East Lippincott Street, right around the corner from Jack’s Famous Bar, where prosecutors say he and a juvenile fired more than 40 shots into a crowd of people in November 2022, Assistant District Attorney Alyssa Amoroso said Friday morning.

Prosecutors believe the shooting was targeted, and that the motive was retaliation for a robbery, said Amoroso. The two shooters fired into the crowd with no concern for any bystanders, she said.

Smith-Davis was charged with attempted murder, criminal conspiracy, aggravated assault, gun violation, and related offenses for the shooting, Krasner said Friday. The juvenile suspect, whom authorities did not identify, is in custody on an unrelated charge, police said. He is also expected to face charges of attempted murder and related crimes once he is brought to Philadelphia from Western Pennsylvania, said Amoroso.

The breaks in the case, which had stumped investigators for more than a year, were helped by forensics technology, DNA, and assistance from the firearms identification unit, said Krasner.

“There are dangerous individuals who think that they have gotten away with crimes in this city,” said Amoroso. “But I think that our unit has shown time and time again that the gun violence task force will find you.”

On Nov. 5, 2022, just before 10:45 p.m., police responded to a shooting on the 800 block of East Allegheny Avenue near Kensington Avenue. When officers arrived, they found the shooting victims had all run into Jack’s Famous Bar, seeking refuge from the gunfire, authorities said.

Smith-Davis and the juvenile arrived in a black Honda Accord, got out and sprayed gunfire into the crowd, Amoroso said.

Police took all the victims, who ranged in age from 23 to 40 years old, to Temple University Hospital, authorities said. There were no fatalities.

Two days after the mass shooting, police pulled Smith-Davis and the juvenile over in the same black Honda Accord, the District Attorney’s Office said in a statement. Smith-Davis was arrested and charged with illegal possession of a firearm, said Capt. James Kearney.

Smith-Davis was sentenced last August to 11.5 to 23 months in prison, and was released late November, according to court records. The gun he was found with at the time of his November 2022 arrest was not used in the mass shooting, said Kearney.

Through investigation, Philadelphia Police received a tip about Smith-Davis, along with his cell phone number, and used cell phone forensic analysis, phone records, and prison phone records to link him and the juvenile to the mass shooting, the District Attorney’s Office said.

When Smith-Davis was questioned by police Thursday, he admitted to being pulled over by police on Nov. 7, 2022, in the same car seen in surveillance footage of the shooting, the District Attorney’s Office said. He did not admit to his part in the mass shooting, said Kearney.

The announcement of the charges comes the day after Mayor Cherelle Parker appointed Police Deputy Commissioner Pedro Rosario, formerly a captain in the city’s East Division, which includes Kensington, to spearhead the Police Department’s strategy in the neighborhood, home to one of the country’s largest open-air drug markets.

Parker has made improving the neighborhood — which has been beset by the drug trade, an overdose crisis, and gun violence — a major focus of her administration and has pledged to shut down the drug market.

Joining Krasner and members of the Philadelphia Police Departmentat Friday’s news conference were Councilmember Mark Squilla, Councilmember-at-large Jim Harrity, and Carlyn Crawley, the chief of staff for Councilmember Quetcy Lozada. The Council members, who represent parts of Kensington, spoke of a renewed push to help residents of Kensington and to combat crime in the neighborhood.

“This is just one piece of a big puzzle that we are now putting together,” said Harrity. “But I feel hope for the residents of Kensington because this is what happens when government works together. When they come together with a mission. And our mission is to clean up Kensington”