KEIEAARA WILLIAMS, THOMAS JOSEPH REED and TERRENCE MOORE - 15, 10 and 7 yo (7/2014)/ Charged: Jonathan Rosa and Cornelius Crawford - Philadelphia PA

Police hunt for carjackers in deaths of three children

By Aubrey Whelan and Tricia L. Nadolny, Inquirer Staff Writers
POSTED: July 28, 2014

As shade fell Saturday evening on the grassy lot where three siblings were killed by the driver of a carjacked vehicle the day before, a group of 50 people gathered for one purpose - prayer.

They prayed for the children, whom many in the crowd had never met; for their mother, clinging to life in a hospital bed; and for themselves.

For a half-hour, they cupped their hands around flickering candles, nodded as ministers preached about unfathomable tragedy, and joined in hymns as a guitarist lightly strummed.

"Don't try to understand. You can't understand," Helen Smith, a grief counselor, whispered to a woman bent over, her wet face buried in her hands.

Around them, at the corner of Allegheny and Germantown Avenues, crime-scene tape had been replaced with a makeshift memorial that grew by the hour: teddy bears, votive candles, a sign reading "RIP ANGELS."

The police cars and ambulances were gone. So were the K-9 teams, the homicide detectives, the crying witnesses.

Some residents of Hilton Street, where the family lives, were home Friday morning when they heard the news: There had been some sort of accident on Allegheny.

Some had walked around the corner to see what happened and had seen the bodies scattered across the lot.

Some knew them as their neighbors - Keisha Williams, 34, the quiet, stay-at-home mother from across the street, and three of her five children: Keiearra Williams, 15; Thomas Joseph Reed, 10; and Terrence Williams, 7.

Friday was bad, the neighbors say. But Saturday was, somehow, worse.

"It's harder today than it was yesterday," said Jacquita Kelsey, a close friend of the family. "I can see [Keisha] on the steps of her house, and Terrence in the doorway, saying 'Hi, Miss Jackie.' "

Williams was in critical condition at Temple University Hospital on Saturday as police continued the search for the men who carjacked a Toyota SUV on Friday morning, drove it at high speeds through North Philadelphia, and plowed into Williams and her family, who were selling fruit at the corner of Allegheny and Germantown to raise money for their church.

Williams' children were killed. Another neighbor, Thelma Brown, suffered a broken ankle. A 45-year-old woman, owner of the carjacked vehicle, was in critical condition but was talking to detectives Friday night.

Police said Saturday afternoon they were following up on a number of tips but had not yet found a concrete lead.

The city has offered a $100,000 reward for information leading to the men's arrest; the Fraternal Order of Police has promised an additional $10,000 if the men are arrested by noon Monday.

On Hilton Street, with Williams' house empty and her family at the hospital, her neighbors waited for news - about an arrest, about Williams' condition, about what to do next.

The young mother had lived on the block for three years, they said, but had just begun to open up to the tight-knit community. She and Brown, they said, shared a particular bond and often stayed up chatting on their porches.

Her children, Kelsey said, were always close.

"I'd say, 'Look at her and her little ducklings,' " she said. "She was always with the kids."

Terrence and Thomas Joseph, Kelsey said, loved to watch wrestling and, when their mother allowed them to play on the street, looked after younger children on the block. Thomas Joseph turned 10 last month, she said, and he received a longed-for handheld video game console as a birthday gift.

Keiearra, 15, was a shy girl who had just started high school, Kelsey said.

"She was the quietest one - but a sweetheart," Kelsey said.

In recent months, the family had become active in a community garden run by Mount Zion Church at the corner of Hilton Street and Germantown Avenue.

"They took pride in their garden," said Joyce Fisher, another neighbor. The first tomato of the season, she said, laughing, was a major event.

The family had been selling fruit on the corner for some time, Fisher said. Neighbors said the church had hoped to raise money to build a playground on the lot.

"Today, to see the garden there, and the gate not open - not to see them there - it's hard," Fisher said.

http://articles.philly.com/2014-07-28/news/52094504_1_terrence-williams-critical-condition-allegheny

No bail for suspects in N. Phila. carjacking, crash that killed 3

Emily Babay, PHILLY.COM
Last updated: Tuesday, July 29, 2014, 6:22 AM

The two men charged in a North Philadelphia carjacking and crash that left three children dead will remain in jail without bail.

Jonathan Rosa, 19, and Cornelius Crawford, 24, were arraigned overnight. Both men were denied bail.

Charges that include murder, sexual assault, robbery, kidnapping, conspiracy and other offenses were filed against the pair on Monday.

Prosecutors allege that they carjacked a Toyota 4Runner on Friday morning, then rammed the SUV into a family fruit stand at Allegheny and Germantown avenues when they lost control of the vehicle.

The crash killed 15-year-old Keiearra Williams, 10-year-old Thomas Joseph Reed, and 7-year-old Terrence Williams. Keisha Williams, their mother, was critically injured.

Another woman who had been selling fruit with the family, 69-year-old Thelma Brown, was also hurt, as was the 45-year-old carjacking victim.

Preliminary hearings for the two suspects have been scheduled for Aug. 13.

They were taken into custody Sunday night. Rosa, accompanied by his mother and pastor, surrendered. Crawford was arrested about a half-mile from the crash scene.

The tragic events began when Rosa and Crawford approached a female real-estate agent after she finished a meeting on North Sixth Street on Friday morning, implied they were carrying a weapon, and forced her into the 4Runner, police said.

Police said they then drove north at a high speed. About a mile later, the vehicle veered out of control, jumping the curb and crashing into the victims and their fruit stand, which was raising money to help build a playground.

At a Monday news conference announcing the arrests, police officials thanked the public for tips that came in after the accident and said witnesses gave descriptions of the suspects and identified the two once they were apprehended.

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/No_bail_for_suspects_in_N_Phila_carjacking_crash_that_killed_3.html#3DrtVSHmTBIQ4xiu.99

Charles Barkley Offers to Pay Funeral Costs for 3 Siblings Killed in Carjacking

By Sarah Glover
Tuesday, Jul 29, 2014 • Updated at 9:48 AM PDT

NBA legend and former Philadelphia 76er Charles Barkley has offered to pay for the funerals of three young siblings killed after a carjacking went awry in the city last week, according to District Attorney Seth Williams.

Ten-year-old Joseph Thomas Reed, his 15-year-old sister Keiearra Williams and their 7-year-old brother Terrence Moore were struck and killed Friday when a carjacked SUV plowed into the church-run fruit stand where they were volunteering on a street corner in the Tioga section of the city.

The children's mother, 34-year-old Keisha Williams, was critically injured, and their 65-year-old neighbor Thelma Brown broke an ankle.

Barkley confirmed his intentions to NBC10.com on Tuesday, but declined to comment further saying he did not want to take attention away from the victims.

The children had all been selling fruit as church volunteers to raise money for a community park at the corner of Germantown and Allegheny Avenues. Eagles Wings Evangelistic Church used the fruit stand on that corner to raise money for the park.

The image of the children's bodies flying into the air scarred witnesses.

"I heard the bang," said church member Jesse Bridges, who described just barely escaping being hit and seeing the three children lying on the ground. "I was spared, but I'm still affected by it. I'm just broken up by it."

At the time of the crash, Bridges swept sidewalk garbage just feet away from the impact.

The Eagles Wings church has just 12 members, but Pastor Lola Blount considers the deceased children members of the congregation because they are regular volunteers, according to Bridges.

The close-knit church family, which worships out of a row home in the 3400 block of 17th Street, plans to open a bank account later this week to help the family.

"People are afraid to collect money in this neighborhood. They are afraid they may get robbed if the word gets out -- that's how the neighborhood is," said Bridges.

The two suspects in the deadly carjacking and crash – Cornelius Crawford, 23, and Jonathan Rosa, 19 – were charged Monday with second-degree murder, robbery, carjacking, sexual assault and other counts.

Williams praised Philadelphia police for bringing "these bastards to justice" in the deadly carjacking.

Both suspects lived in the same neighborhood where they are accused of tragically plowing into the crowd, and they had met just a week before the carjacking.

An attorney for Rosa said his teen client wanted to atone for his involvement.

http://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/national-international/Charles-Barkley-Offers-to-Pay-for-Carjacking-Funerals-268940791.html