South Street mass shooting suspects appear in Philadelphia court; 2 charges dismissed

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) — Three suspects appeared Wednesday morning for a preliminary hearing in connection with the South Street mass shooting in June.

Lawyers argued over the charges against three of the defendants and played never-before-seen video of the June 4 chaos that left three dead.

“I was trying to keep myself together and be strong,” Tina Quinn, mother of shooting victim Alexis Quinn, said after seeing the video. “It got on my nerves.”

Quinn witnessed the moments when her daughter fell onto the sidewalk on South Street after being shot.

“I just want justice for my daughter. I want the people who did this to pay for it,” Quinn said.

Prosecutors said Nasir Jackson, known as Nahjee Whittington, was responsible for Quinn’s death.

Namir Jones, known as Qaadir Dukes-Hill, is also accused of shooting at a crowd on South Street.

Prosecutors said he was responsible for Kristopher Minners’ death.

Both are charged with first-degree murder and conspiracy.

SEE ALSO: Video appears to show moments leading up to the mass shooting on South Street

The defense argued against the first-degree murder charges. They said the evidence wasn’t there.

“It was self-defense,” Jackson defense attorney Earl Kauffman said. “There’s no way it was first-degree murder.”

But the Commonwealth sees it differently and is pushing for a first-degree murder charge. Assistant District Attorney Joanne Pescatore acknowledged that proving who shot whom could be difficult.

“It’s going to be an uphill battle to get those charges, but at this level we believe it’s still first-degree murder,” Pescatore said.

The Commonwealth showed a video from different angles from that night. They claim it shows the suspects shooting at the crowd.

In the end, three people were killed, including one person involved in the first fight, and 11 people were injured.

Quran Garner is also accused of shooting into that crowd after the fight that sparked the mass shooting. Two counts of aggravated assault against him were dropped by law enforcement agencies. Both sides agreed that he did not point a gun at an officer.