On the night of December 28, 2020, a street altercation in Philadelphia's Lawncrest neighborhood turned deadly, claiming the life of 24-year-old Ebony Kitchen. The incident occurred at approximately 10:58 p.m. on the 5800 block of Rising Sun Avenue, where Kitchen was found by responding Philadelphia Police officers with multiple gunshot wounds. Despite the efforts of medics who arrived at the scene, she was pronounced dead at 11:08 p.m.
The investigation into the shooting, aided by
surveillance footage from a nearby smoke shop and real-time crime cameras, quickly identified a suspect. The video captured a physical altercation involving Kitchen, a woman, and a man. Shortly after, another man, who police say was not involved in the initial dispute, approached Kitchen and shot her in the head at point-blank range. This individual was later identified as Savion Perez, 23 at the time of his arrest.
On April 2, 2021, Philadelphia Police arrested Perez and charged him with murder, conspiracy, and several gun-related offenses. Additionally, three co-defendants were taken into custody and faced charges including murder, conspiracy, and aggravated assault. However, the path to justice took a significant turn on July 21, 2021, when a key witness failed to appear at a preliminary hearing. This led to a judge dismissing all charges against Perez and his three co-defendants for lack of prosecution.
Following the dismissal, the District Attorney's office refiled charges against the three co-defendants, a standard procedure in such cases. Curiously, the murder charge against the alleged shooter, Savion Perez, was not immediately refiled, allowing him to be released from custody. During his period of freedom, law enforcement officials stated that Perez was allegedly involved in two other homicides. He was subsequently arrested on August 31, 2022, for the murder of Marc Santiago-Moyer. As of late September 2022, charges for the murder of Ebony Kitchen had not been refiled against Perez, though the case against his co-defendants was reportedly proceeding to trial. The Philadelphia Police Department's website for Ebony Kitchen's case is now marked as 'SOLVED,' with a note indicating a suspect was arrested on January 28, 2021, and the outcome is pending trial.
