Cops: 2 women tortured and killed friend over $800
A young woman whose tortured and handcuffed body was found near the Mann Center in Fairmount Park last week was killed by two friends over an $800 debt, police said Tuesday.
A young woman whose tortured and handcuffed body was found near the Mann Center in Fairmount Park last week was killed by two friends over an $800 debt, police said Tuesday.
Shavon Armstrong, 39, was charged with murder, kidnapping, robbery, and related offenses Friday in the death of Toy Charda Bryant, 26, of Chester, whose body was found by a young couple along the 5300 block of Georges Hill Drive in Fairmount Park about 8:15 a.m. June 14, according to police.
"She believed she owed her $800, and because of that she abducted her, tortured her, and killed her," Homicide Capt. James Clark said of Armstrong on Tuesday.
"I will say that this is the most brutal murder that I've seen in my eight or nine years in homicide by a female on a female," he said.
On Tuesday, police arrested Shintele Smith, 28, of the 2600 block of South Bialy Street in Eastwick, and charged her with conspiracy, murder, kidnapping, and related offenses in Bryant's slaying.
Investigators were speaking with other people about the case, but Clark said that with the arrest of Armstrong and Smith, "we feel that we have the main two responsible."
Armstrong, of Wilkes-Barre, also goes by the name Palliadium Smith and has previous addresses in Chester, police said.
Bryant, Armstrong, and Smith all have ties to Chester, including relatives, Clark said.
He said Bryant's captors abducted her from Chester and took her on a hellish ride.
"I can tell you, during the ride from Chester to Philadelphia, she was being tortured," he said. "But she was ultimately killed in that park."
When Bryant's body was found by a couple on their way to work, it had multiple stab wounds and a gunshot wound to the back of her head, Bryant's hands were handcuffed in front of her and a rubber glove had been shoved down her throat, Clark said.
Philadelphia and Chester police worked together to make the arrests, Clark said.
"Our homicide detectives pretty much worked around the clock following up on leads," he said. "It led them to Chester, and we started talking to people in Chester, and along with help from the Chester Police Department, we found out what happened."
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