Gordon Branch, a 36-year-old Black male from Philadelphia, was found mortally injured on the morning of Sunday, August 21, 2016, in the Tioga section of the city. Just before 7:30 a.m., Philadelphia police officers were called to the 4100 block of North Broad Street, where they discovered Branch in front of a residence with a serious injury to his head.
He lived on the 1300 block of Jerome Street in Philadelphia.
Branch was taken by medics to Temple University Hospital, but he died there later that morning. The Office of the Medical Examiner determined that his death was caused by blunt force trauma. Early reporting said police believed some kind of fight may have happened before Branch suffered the fatal injury, and one report described the wound as being to the back of his head.
The case left his mother, Alice Branch, pleading years later for someone to come forward. She described Gordon as her only son and said she believed someone knew what had happened to him. Her public appeal centered on the pain of not knowing who was responsible and the hope that a witness, or someone with even a small piece of information, would finally speak up.
Police questioned a person of interest shortly after Branch was identified, but no arrest had been announced as of the afternoon after his death. Later public case information from the Philadelphia Police Department continued to list the matter as unsolved and asked for help from the public. The City of Philadelphia offered a reward of up to $20,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person responsible.
