A Philadelphia judge found Tahir Shoatz guilty of third-degree murder in the July 2024 West Philadelphia block-party shooting, but acquitted him of the killings of Akil Jones and Rashie Jones. The verdict establishes Shoatz’s criminal responsibility for the death of 23-year-old Sekayi Robinson; it does not resolve who killed the other two men. The Philadelphia Inquirer reported that Shoatz was also convicted of attempted murder, aggravated assault, simple assault, reckless endangerment and firearms offenses. He is scheduled to be sentenced in December.
The shooting took place during a gathering on the 1200 block of North Alden Street on July 21, 2024. Three men were killed and six others wounded. At trial, Judge Roxanne Covington said video evidence indicated an unidentified man killed Akil Jones; she said the evidence did not establish who killed Rashie Jones, according to the Inquirer. Shoatz was acquitted of both killings.
The verdict leaves separate questions about the other deaths
The judge’s findings described a chaotic exchange of gunfire involving multiple people, rather than a complete account of every fatal shot. Amir Jones, who had faced murder and assault charges, was acquitted of the remaining counts after prosecutors dismissed some charges. Shoatz’s conviction for Robinson’s death therefore should not be read as a finding that he killed all three men.
The case is one of several distinct episodes of mass gun violence in Philadelphia in recent years, but individual incidents do not establish a trend. The Philadelphia Inquirer reported that a separate shooting on South Street on June 5, 2022, killed three people and wounded 11. That incident shared a death toll with the Alden Street shooting, but occurred at a different place and time; the comparison does not establish that the events had the same circumstances or cause. The Inquirer’s report on the South Street shooting documented that earlier incident.
