On a cold January night in Philadelphia, the life of a 35-year-old Black woman, Tasena Jennings, was tragically cut short. The events unfolded on January 3, 2022, inside a residence on the 900 block of Magee Avenue in the city's Lawndale neighborhood. Responding to a call around 10:40 p.m., police officers arrived to a grim scene. Jennings was discovered on the kitchen floor, having sustained multiple gunshot wounds to her head and chest. Medical personnel pronounced her deceased at the scene.
The violence of that night also left Jennings's 17-year-old son seriously injured. He was found with a gunshot wound to his abdomen and was rushed to Albert Einstein Medical Center. He was listed in critical but stable condition and was expected to survive. As officers first arrived on the scene, they witnessed a man attempting to flee the house by climbing out of a first-floor window. When he saw the police, he went back inside the home. Shortly after, the injured teenage son emerged from the front door, and the man then came out with his hands raised and was taken into custody.
The investigation led to the arrest of two men in connection with the fatal shooting. The suspects were identified as Raymond Robinson, who lived on the same street, and Kamu Anderson. Robinson was reported to be Jennings' boyfriend, and Anderson was his cousin. Both men were subsequently charged with murder. A preliminary hearing for the suspects was scheduled for January 24, 2022.
In the wake of this tragedy, it was revealed that Tasena Jennings was a mother of three children. The incident was described as an act of domestic violence, with a GoFundMe page being set up to help support her surviving children, including her injured son, with expenses such as therapy and medical bills. The motive for the shooting was not made clear by authorities.
