In the summer of 2007, 17-year-old Donte Graham, a resident of Philadelphia's Oxford Circle neighborhood, was fatally shot. On the evening of Wednesday, July 25th, at approximately 9:45 p.m., Graham was on Lehigh Avenue near 24th Street in North Philadelphia when gunfire erupted. He was struck in the chest in the shadow of St. Martin de Porres Catholic Church. Rushed to Temple University Hospital, he was pronounced dead shortly after arriving.
A 48-year-old bystander was also wounded in the incident, suffering a gunshot to the leg but was listed in stable condition.
Though he lived in another part of the city, Graham was a familiar face in the Swampoodle neighborhood where the shooting occurred, often returning to visit friends. In the immediate aftermath, police detectives were working to determine a motive for the shooting, considering possibilities including whether it was gang-related.
As the investigation progressed, a suspect was identified. Donte Hill, whose nickname was 'Tae,' was arrested and charged with the murder. A significant piece of evidence in the case was Graham's dying declaration to police. As he was being transported to the hospital, Graham told officers that 'Tae from the Avenue' had shot him and had fled the scene in a red truck.
Donte Hill was subsequently convicted by a jury of first-degree murder and possessing an instrument of a crime. On June 23, 2011, he was sentenced to a mandatory term of life in prison for the murder conviction, with a concurrent sentence of one to five years for the weapons charge. Hill later appealed his conviction, but the judgment of the trial court was upheld.
