Assem H. Hijazi, 55, a male of Middle Eastern / Arab background described in reporting as being from Lebanon, was killed on Sunday afternoon, March 2, 2025, in South Philadelphia. Police were called around 2:30 p.m. to Ritner Street near 20th Street, beneath the I-95 overpass, where they found him inside a silver BMW. He had been shot in the head, with early police reporting describing the wound as being to the back of the head.
Medics pronounced him dead at the scene at about 2:50 p.m.
The setting made the killing especially unsettling: Hijazi was found in the driver’s seat of his vehicle in a public area, under an interstate overpass, in the middle of the afternoon. Early reports said no weapon had been recovered and that investigators had not yet made any arrests. Police treated the case as a homicide from the start and looked to nearby surveillance cameras for clues about who had approached or entered the vehicle and what happened in the moments before the shooting.
In the days after his death, the public picture of Hijazi began to widen beyond the crime scene. A fundraiser created for his family described him as a longtime friend to many people and a dedicated hairdresser at Adolf Biecker in Center City. The organizer wrote that he was deeply missed by friends, coworkers, family members, and long-time clients, and identified his wife as Nadia Hijazi while also referring to the couple’s two sons. Other reporting described him as a father of two, adding to the sense that his death stunned people who knew him not as a headline, but as a husband, father, coworker, and friend.
For weeks, the investigation appeared to remain open while detectives worked through evidence. The case changed in April 2025, when police reported that Andrew Wallenburg had been arrested in connection with the killing. According to 6abc, Wallenburg was accused in the murder of Hijazi, who had been found shot inside the BMW on March 2 on Ritner Street under I-95. Available online reporting did not provide a detailed public motive, did not describe a trial outcome, and did not report a conviction. Based on the available sources, Wallenburg should be described as an accused suspect, not as someone convicted of the crime.
The known public facts leave the case with a stark outline: Hijazi was found dead in his BMW in South Philadelphia after being shot in the head, the weapon was not recovered in the initial reports, and police later announced an arrest in the case. What remains unclear from available reporting is why he was targeted, what connection, if any, investigators believe existed between Hijazi and Wallenburg, and whether prosecutors have since resolved the case in court.
