Thomas Burnett, a 61-year-old Black male from Philadelphia, was killed on February 8, 2021, during a double homicide inside a residence on the 2900 block of Rosehill Street in the city’s Kensington/North Philadelphia area. Police were called to the home at about 3:21 p.m. and entered a scene where two men had been shot on the second floor. Burnett was found shot in the chest and head, while the second victim, 42-year-old Maurice Harper, was found with multiple gunshot wounds to the chest.
Fire Department medics responded, but both men were pronounced dead at the scene.
The shooting unfolded during a particularly violent stretch in Philadelphia, with the Rosehill Street deaths among several homicides reported across the city that day. Early reports described Harper as being found in a bedroom and Burnett as the second man discovered elsewhere in the home, with both victims already beyond saving when emergency personnel arrived. The deaths were treated as a double homicide, and the police case for Burnett was later listed by Philadelphia’s homicide unit under DC number 21-24-009094.
The investigation moved quickly. By February 9, 2021, the day after Burnett and Harper were found dead, officials announced that a suspect in the Rosehill Street double homicide was in custody. Philadelphia police later marked Burnett’s case as solved and stated that a suspect had been arrested on Tuesday, February 9, 2021. Publicly available online reporting did not identify the suspect by name, and the available police case summary did not provide further details about the person arrested, the alleged motive, or the relationship, if any, between the suspect and the two victims.
The online sources reviewed did not show a confirmed conviction, sentencing, or punishment connected to Burnett’s death. The Philadelphia Police Department case page noted that the case outcome was pending trial, while news reporting available online at the time of the arrest said no further details had been provided about the suspect. Based on the available online information, the case was solved by arrest, but no publicly available source located confirmed whether the arrested suspect was later tried, convicted, acquitted, had charges dismissed, or received a sentence.
