Couple executed in car in Mt. Airy; male victim had on latex gloves
Philly homicides are up 20 percent over the same period last year.
A young couple found killed execution-style in a car parked on a quiet East Mount Airy block Sunday and a man shot at least 10 times by an intruder in his West Oak Lane home Monday are among the city's latest homicide victims — that grim statistic up 20 percent from the same period last year, police said.
Frederick Hawkins-Williams, 23, and Amber Sloan, 21, were found in the front seat of a parked car on the 1000 block of Sydney Street with single gunshot wounds to the back of their heads around 4:45 p.m. Sunday, police said. Homicide Capt. James Clark said authorities were still trying to determine how long the car had been parked there, and when Hawkins-Williams and Sloan were killed. Neighbors reported the car had been idling for some time, police said.
The four-door sedan was registered to Hawkins-Williams, who was Sloan's boyfriend, according to Clark. Hawkins-Williams was wearing latex gloves when he was found in the driver's seat, Clark said. Police declined to comment on whether drugs or drug paraphernalia were found in the car.
Clark said it appeared that the killer had been sitting in the rear passenger-side seat when Hawkins-Williams, of Elkins Park, and Sloan, of the city's Crescentville section, were shot.
"We really need the public's help," Clark said. "If somebody saw something, please contact us."
As of late Monday afternoon, authorities had not released the name of a man killed earlier Monday when an armed intruder or intruders broke into his home on the 6500 block of North 16th Street around 1:10 a.m.
The 29-year-old victim was watching TV from the living room couch when the intruders forced their way in through the basement and fired at least 10 shots at him as his grandmother slept upstairs, Clark said. The grandmother called police, and her grandson was pronounced dead inside the house at 1:21 a.m., authorities said.
According to police, Philadelphia has had 132 homicides this year, compared with 109 at the same time last year. It is the highest homicide tally in early June since 2012, when 154 people were killed in the city by June 4, according to police statistics.
The city offers a $20,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction in every homicide case. Those with information are urged to call the department's tip line at 215-686-8477.
