Charges Filed in “Horrific” Northeast Philly Triple Murder

Quadir Jeffries

In May of 2014 — a few months after three men were found brutally murdered inside a two-story house in Northeast Philadelphia — homicide detectives sat down for an interview with Quadir Jeffries, a possible suspect in the case.

The investigation had hit some roadblocks, but the detectives knew a TD Bank card that belonged to one victim, Brian Williams, had been used numerous times after his death, including once at a United Artist movie theater in Grant Plaza.

The detectives showed Jeffries a surveillance photo of him at the theater, on a day the card had been used there. He mulled it over for a second, according to a grand jury report released today, and owned up to using the card.

But he projected icy self-confidence, not panic. “So what?” he asked the investigators, according to the report. “What else do you have?” 

It took nearly two years, but investigators showed Jeffries they had more than just some pixelated photos. The 24-year-old was charged today with three counts of murder, robbery and related offenses for playing a lead role in the horror show that claimed the lives of Williams, Keurlin Charles and Vagner Freemont on February 13, 2014.

Jeffries is already behind bars, having been sentenced to 20 to 40 years in prison for taking part in a violent home invasion in Hunting Park in January 2014, said District Attorney Seth Williams.

In that case, Jeffries and two other men, Alonzo Wallace and Hakim Blatch, forced their way into a 57-year-old man’s house, knocked a bedroom door off its hinges and pistol-whipped the man in the face. Another person in the house was shot by Wallace. The trio made off with cash and marijuana. (Wallace and Blatch have been sentenced to 30 to 60 years and 23 to 46 years in prison, respectively, the D.A. said today.)

Here’s why that case matters: Fired cartridge casings that were found at the scene of the Hunting Park home invasion matched fired cartridge casings that were found at the triple murder, D.A. Williams said, giving investigators one way to link Jeffries to both crimes.

But they amassed plenty more evidence. Cell phone data analyzed by a homicide detective put Jeffries near the scene of the triple slaying. And they tracked the use of Brian Williams’ TD Bank card, finding that in addition to the movie theater trip, Jeffries also used it to put money on the prison accounts of four inmates in Philadelphia through a company called Access Secure Deposit.

Jeffries initially told investigators he obtained the card from another man, but that story didn’t check out.

So what happened on the day of the murders? D.A. Williams said Jeffries and another man, Cori Thompson, went to Charles’ house on Martins Mill Road near Oxford Avenue to rob him. Charles sold marijuana from his house, the D.A. said. (Thompson was arrested in October on murder charges.)

Freemont was a family friend who worked a “9 to 5” job and simply lived in the basement, the D.A. said. Brian Williams, meanwhile, happened to stop by the house that day. He had half an ounce of marijuana in his pocket.

Freemont, 34, was found dead in a bedroom. His ankles and wrists had been bound, and he’d been shot in the head. Charles, 24, was found on a living room couch, wrists bound, shot in the head. Brian Williams, 25, was on the floor, shot in the head, neck and thigh.

Authorities noted that the killers had pressed their guns directly against the victims before pulling the trigger.

Even more chilling was an argument Jeffries and Thompson allegedly had after the murders. An associate, Tiasia Wright, was in a car with the men, and overheard Thompson say that his gun had jammed, according to the grand jury report.

“You fucking stupid,” Jeffries allegedly replied.

“What the fuck you mean, bro? It’s not my fault,” Thompson said.

“You supposed to be ready,” Jeffries said.

D.A. Williams said he put the case in the hands of an investigating grand jury “because certain witnesses were reluctant to give simple answers to simple questions.”

With both alleged killers behind bars, the D.A. said he hoped the victims’ families “will begin to receive the justice they deserve.”

Follow @dgambacorta on Twitter.