Four years after a deadly November 2022 shooting in Frankford, police say they still have no arrests, and a neighborhood is stuck living with unanswered questions. Twenty-nine-year-old James Marcus Taylor was shot outside a corner store on the 5400 block of Akron Street on Nov. 9, 2022, and died at a hospital roughly 15 minutes later. Family members and detectives say they believe he was killed in a tragic case of mistaken identity, as per the Philadelphia Police Department.
Surveillance Footage And Suspect Description
Not long after the killing, the Philadelphia Police Department released surveillance video that shows two people sprinting away from the scene. Investigators say the shooter unleashed at least 21 shots at close range at about 5:56 p.m. on Nov. 9, 2022. A department wanted bulletin describes both suspects as thin Black men in dark clothing and masks and notes a $20,000 city reward for information, according to the Philadelphia Police Department.
Family Remembers Taylor And The Mistaken-Identity Theory
Taylor’s relatives say he had taken a last-minute call to cover a shift and stopped at the corner store on his way to work when someone opened fire. "It wasn't for him, he was not the intended target," Taylor’s mother told 6abc. Santo Montecalvo of the Citizens Crime Commission said responders "located an unresponsive male suffering from multiple gunshot wounds." The randomness of it all has only deepened the family’s sense that Taylor was caught in someone else’s feud.
Why The Investigation Has Stalled
Detectives say the case has been hobbled by thin physical evidence and a shortage of solid eyewitness accounts, even after authorities circulated a surveillance clip to the public in late November 2022. At the time, police publicly urged neighbors to speak up, but the case remains unsolved and investigators have yet to recover a weapon, according to CBS Philadelphia.
How To Help
The Citizens Crime Commission is handling tips in the case and can be reached at 215-546-TIPS. The Philadelphia Police Homicide Unit also accepts tips at 215-686-TIPS and through an anonymous online form. The city reward and the call for any dash-cam or doorbell video tied to the shooting are detailed in local coverage, per 6abc.
