In a West Philadelphia grocery store on a Wednesday afternoon, the life of 15-year-old Seth Rysean Marshall was tragically cut short. On May 21, 2025, Marshall was inside the store located on the 5400 block of Race Street when gunfire erupted. Responding to reports of the shooting at approximately 2:15 p.m., police discovered Marshall and a 16-year-old companion both suffering from multiple gunshot wounds.
While the 16-year-old was rushed to a nearby medical center in critical condition, Seth Marshall was pronounced dead at the scene.
The individual responsible for the shooting, 22-year-old Jaquan Higgs, remained at the location and was taken into custody. Higgs, a resident of West Philadelphia with a legal permit to carry a concealed weapon and no prior criminal record, was subsequently arrested and charged with murder and attempted murder. He claimed to have acted in self-defense, asserting that the two teenagers were armed.
Investigations revealed a complex sequence of events. While both Marshall and the other teen were indeed armed, surveillance footage from within the store indicated that neither of them had drawn their weapons before Higgs opened fire. The video showed Marshall near the front of the store, with a handgun visibly tucked into his waistband. He was reportedly looking at his phone and typing a text message when he was shot. His 16-year-old companion was at the counter paying for his food when he was also struck by bullets. Following the shooting, witnesses inside the store reportedly took Marshall's semi-automatic handgun, which had an extended magazine, and placed it under a car across the street before police arrived and recovered it along with another weapon inside the store. Law enforcement sources also indicated that Marshall was wanted on weapons charges in a neighboring county at the time of his death.
