3-year-old found alone after father's killing

Armone Stanley had dressed his 3-year-old daughter early Wednesday for her flight home to her mother in Florida. He was bringing the child's bags downstairs when he was ambushed on the second-floor landing of his West Philadelphia apartment building, police said.

He was shot 19 times, his body riddled with 32 bullet holes.

Inside the apartment, his daughter heard the shots and ran to her father.

She tried to wake him. When he didn't respond, she went back upstairs to the empty apartment.

More than 24 hours later, on Thursday morning, a landlord for the otherwise unoccupied building at 110 N. 49th St. found Stanley dead on the landing.

From upstairs, he heard the little girl's voice: "Daddy, Daddy."

While the child, found hungry and traumatized, has been taken into temporary care by the Department of Human Services, police are searching for a motive and suspects in what they described as an execution-style killing.

"This was more of a personal attack," said Capt. James Clark, the commander of the department's Homicide Unit.

Lt. Philip Riehl, whose squad is investigating the murder, added, "There was a clear intent to kill. They stood over this guy and emptied a gun into him."

Riehl said Stanley, 34, had a long criminal record in Florida. In 2011, Stanley was charged in Bensalem with more than 300 counts of identity theft and related charges, and sentenced to up to 23 months in prison.

Police recovered 9mm bullet casings from the scene. The child is awaiting her mother's arrival from Florida. "It's just tragic that a 3-year-old girl had to find her father this way," Riehl said.

Anyone with information about the crime is encouraged to call the Homicide Unit at 215-686-3334. The city offers a $20,000 reward in return for information leading to an arrest in any Philadelphia homicide.