1 of 2 Christmas-night slayings blamed on robbery

After visiting with relatives in West Philadelphia Christmas night, Shawn McKnight, 35, went to the Intocable Food Mart on 60th Street near Haverford Avenue to get a Mountain Dew.

He never made it home. He was shot to death outside the store.

"He was the victim of an apparent robbery," said Homicide Lt. Philip Riehl.

McKnight, of Edmund Street near Margaret in Northeast Philadelphia, was shot at about 7:30 p.m. outside the corner store where he had stopped to make the purchase.

Police found him lying on the ground and took him to the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, where he was pronounced dead at about 8:10 p.m.

Riehl said detectives were still trying last night to get a description of the killer.

It was reported that McKnight was survived by his fiancee, a 3-year-old son, a 4-year-old daughter and an 8-year-old stepdaughter.

Homicide investigators yesterday also were trying to solve another Christmas-night slaying.

Police said Andrew Jackson, 44, of Arbor Street near Ontario Street in North Philadelphia, had been shot multiple times in the torso shortly before 10 p.m.

Cops arrived and found Jackson lying on Oakdale Street near Lehigh Avenue. He was taken to Temple University Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at about 10:30 p.m.

Tipsters can call the Homicide Division at 215-686-3334 or -3335.*