Shawn W. Wootson, a 34-year-old male, died suddenly on June 8, 2005, in Chester, Pennsylvania, after he was shot while sitting in a car. The killing happened in the early-morning hours in the 400 block of East 10th Street, where police responded after hearing what sounded like a car crash. When officers arrived, they found Wootson inside a vehicle that had been involved in a crash.
Paramedics were called, but he was pronounced dead at the scene.
The shooting appeared to unfold after violence had already broken out nearby. Earlier that night, two feuding groups connected to city housing projects had been playing basketball at a recreation center when tensions escalated. As a crowd gathered, the dispute turned violent and people began shooting. A stray bullet struck another person, identified in the report as Carrington, in the head; that victim never regained consciousness and died the next evening. Wootson was later found shot to death in the car, and the Delaware County Medical Examiner ruled his death a homicide.
At the time of Wootson’s killing, investigators said they did not have a suspect or a motive. Police also said that although they were familiar with Wootson, they had not had contact with him for some time before the shooting. Available online sources do not identify any named suspect, arrest, criminal charge, trial, or conviction connected to Wootson’s death.
Wootson’s name also carried a long history in Chester because he had been one of five men convicted of assault in connection with the 1988 murder of Chester High School cheerleader Carla Carrington. That case began when Carrington and her boyfriend were confronted by several young men while sitting in a car near a high school athletic field. The boyfriend was dragged out and beaten, and Carrington was shot in the head. Wootson was singled out in court as the instigator of that earlier violence, though he and the others were acquitted of the more serious murder charges. He spent about a decade in prison in connection with that case.
The sources also note that Wootson had previously been acquitted in the murder of Shirley Boylan, a county barmaid who had gone to Chester to buy drugs, and that he later served time for a car theft conviction, probation violation, and falsification to authorities. He had been released from prison on April 30, 2005, only weeks before he was killed. His obituary remembered him as the husband of Tamika L. Wootson and father of Haivin, Shawn, Reishee, and Sayee Wootson, as well as the son of Bianca Wootson and brother to several siblings.
