Two young women shot dead in Northeast Philly rowhouse
They moved quickly, the three killers, quickly enough to break into a Northeast Philly rowhouse yesterday, gun down two young women and run off into the fading daylight.
They moved quickly, the three killers, quickly enough to break into a Northeast Philly rowhouse yesterday, gun down two young women and run off into the fading daylight.
The tragic story unfolded about 3:45 p.m., when cops were called to a house on Rutland Street near Cheltenham Avenue after a report of gunfire, said Capt. Frank Bachmayer, commander of the 15th Police District.
Several officers made their way into the house, where they found the two women - identified by relatives as Marcedes Ivery, 21, and her cousin Tiffany Archie, 19 - on the second floor, dead of several gunshots.
Police said that there was no known motive and no sign of the thugs, at least one of whom pulled the trigger after kicking in the front door.
A homicide investigator said last night that neighbors reported seeing two women and a man running from the rowhouse moments after the shots rang out.
Relatives of the slain women hovered at the edge of Rutland Street last night, casting their tearful eyes toward the crime scene.
Regina Howard, Ivery's aunt, said that she couldn't begin to imagine what could have led someone to slay the young women.
"They're good girls," she said. "They're not into anything bad. Marcedes finished nursing school. She works in health care."
Howard said her sister, Kim Ivery - Marcedes' mother - got home moments after the slayings.
"She was coming up to her house and they [the assailants] came running out," Howard said. "She's absolutely devastated."
Howard said that Ivery was about to move to Germantown because the landlord of the Rutland Street property was not making repairs.
"They're a close-knit family," she said. "Kim never mentioned them having any problems around here."
Tipsters can contact the Homicide Unit at 215-686-3334 or -3335.
