The Morning Newsletter
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Good morning, Philly. Expect lots more rain tonight and potentially damaging winds tomorrow.
The murder of 5-year-old Marcus Yates shook the city. Our lead story below details how, decades later, his mother is on a mission to free the man convicted in his killing.
And a University of Pennsylvania grad has been charged in the UnitedHealthcare CEO shooting investigation. A profile of the 26-year-old Luigi Mangione, a former Penn computer science student, is beginning to emerge from public records and his own online presence.
— Julie Zeglen (morningnewsletter@inquirer.com)
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Marcus Yates was 5 years old when he was shot dead in a Southwest Philadelphia candy store in 1988.
His high-profile killing enraged the city and came to symbolize the horror of children caught in the crossfire of gun violence.
Decades later, Marcus’ mother, Rochelle Yates-Whittington, wanted to find peace by forgiving the two men convicted of murdering her son, and met with each through prison video calls. To her shock, she realized the police account of the crime wasn’t at all what she had been led to believe — and that one of the men, Michael Gaynor, wasn’t even in the candy store when the boy was shot.
The Inquirer investigated Yates-Whittington’s story as she seeks to overturn Gaynor’s conviction in her son’s murder, discovering the wrong man had been charged in the shooting, while identifying the man whose family said he did it. Read the six-part story by reporter Barbara Laker:
New York City police on Monday identified a 26-year-old Penn graduate as a suspect in the fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.
Authorities detained Maryland native Luigi Mangione yesterday at a McDonald’s in Altoona. He was carrying fake IDs, a manifesto railing against health-care companies, and a gun similar to that used in the shooting, they said.
Mangione will face charges in Pennsylvania including forgery, false identification to law enforcement, and carrying a firearm without a license, according to a criminal complaint detailing his arrest. Late Monday night, Manhattan prosecutors filed murder and other charges against him.
Details are still emerging, and Mangione’s wide digital footprint offers few direct clues as to what could have motivated last week’s attack. Here’s what we know so far about Mangione.
In Philadelphia: Health insurance giant Independence Blue Cross, which is headquartered in Center City, cautioned employees against wearing company-branded gear in public following the UnitedHealthcare shooting “strictly out of an abundance of caution.”
What you should know today
Members of the MOVE organization on Monday called for the Penn Museum to return the remains of a 12-year-old victim of the MOVE bombing that had been kept at the museum for decades.
Police are searching for a West Philadelphia man in connection with a violent home invasion in Lower Merion on Sunday in which a man was killed and his mother was critically injured.
Philly judges say they don’t feel safe in their courtrooms due to security failures under Sheriff Rochelle Bilal. They’ve ordered her to fix them.
A jury awarded $29 million to a cyclist who was disabled by a brain injury after a commercial truck driver struck him in Lancaster County.
President Joe Biden on Monday designated a federal monument in Carlisle, Pa., at a former boarding school that mistreated Native American children in an attempt to assimilate them.
Mayor Cherelle L. Parker on Monday said the city would be actively involved in “rightsizing” the Philadelphia School District. She also named Palak Raval-Nelson, a deputy commissioner in the city’s Department of Public Health, as the next health commissioner.
Pennridge administrators are investigating the drawing of a swastika outside the district’s high school, they told some parents, promising “next steps” to follow.
Atlantic City now has more weed shops than casinos, with dozens more on the way. Some dispensary owners say that’s too many.
Four years after the Queer Eye-featured restaurant opened, South Philly’s Alma del Mar has closed. Its owners say crime pushed them out.
In a Pennsylvania matchup only slightly less contentious than Wawa vs. Sheetz, the Philadelphia Eagles (11-2) are set to play the Pittsburgh Steelers (10-3) this Sunday.
If you watch football and live in Philly or its suburbs, chances are good you’re a Birds fan. But how far does that green sphere of influence go?
An analysis of fans’ social media accounts and ticket purchases offer their own answers. Now, we want to hear from you.
Tell us: Where, exactly, does the state become Steelers Country? Stake your claim in this interactive story.
🧠 Trivia time
Holiday tipping season is here. How much do etiquette experts recommend tipping U.S. Postal Service workers and Philly trash collectors?
A) $20
B) $50
C) $100
D) Nothing — they aren’t allowed to accept tips
Think you know? Check your answer.
What (and who) we’re...
🏆 Cheering: West Philly-raised Quinta Brunson and Colman Domingo for their 2025 Golden Globe noms.
💍 Congratulating: The oldest newlyweds in the world, who live in Logan Square.
🥃 Gifting: These 17 whiskies, courtesy Craig Laban’s annual list.
🧩 Unscramble the anagram
Hint: 14th Street
ABORT DESERT
Email us if you know the answer. We’ll select a reader at random to shout out here. Cheers to Carol Catanese, who solved Monday’s anagram: Club World Cup. Manchester City, Real Madrid, and Chelsea are among the big-name teams that will play at Lincoln Financial Field as part of FIFA’s 2025 event.
Photo of the day
👋 Have a great Tuesday. See you back here tomorrow.
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