Malik Ballard, a 17-year-old Black male from Philadelphia, was killed on April 28, 2023, when gunfire erupted in the Lawncrest/Crescentville area of Northeast Philadelphia. Police were called at about 3:36 p.m. to the 5900 block of Palmetto Street, where the violence had spilled through and around a rowhouse. When officers arrived, they found Malik lying on the sidewalk with gunshot wounds.
Two other teenagers were also down: Khalif Frezghi was found on the porch, and Salaah Fleming was found just inside the doorway of the home. Medics pronounced all three dead at the scene. A fourth teenager, 16, survived after being shot and later arriving at a hospital in a private vehicle.
The shooting appeared to have grown out of a planned gun transaction inside the house. Investigators said the group had gathered for what was described as a gun deal or gun swap, and later court reporting described it as a gun sale that turned into an attempted robbery. Authorities said the plan involved a $1,000 firearm purchase, but the meeting collapsed into gunfire when people involved in the transaction pulled weapons. Police recovered ballistic evidence from the street, a firearm inside the residence, and later connected a black Ford Edge to the shooting.
The Ford Edge became a key part of the immediate aftermath. Police located it a short time later about two miles away, near the 500 block of East Wyoming Avenue in Feltonville. Surveillance footage showed a black SUV crashing into a parked minivan on nearby Whitaker Avenue, and two people running from the vehicle after the crash. Police said two teenage males, ages 15 and 16, were taken into custody in connection with the vehicle and were charged with firearms violations and related offenses. Their names were not released in the early public reports.
In the days after Malik and the other teens were killed, Philadelphia police publicly identified two additional people they wanted to locate: Taj Lennon, then 15, and Tyree Lennon, then 22. Police described them as cousins, said they were persons of interest, and warned that they should be considered armed and dangerous. Investigators said both had outstanding warrants at the time. Authorities continued to say the shooting stemmed from a transaction inside the home, and they urged the public to contact homicide detectives with information.
The case later developed beyond the initial juvenile firearm arrests. Tyree Lennon was arrested on July 6, 2023, and authorities said he was charged for his role in the Palmetto Street shooting. Later reports stated he faced murder, conspiracy, and related charges. The Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office also identified Taj Lennon, Kevin Yip, and Kyzir Reeves as wanted in connection with the quadruple shooting, while noting that Tyree Lennon had already been apprehended.
Kyzir Reeves, also known as the rapper HopOutBlick, was arrested in September 2023 after police said he had been wanted since July. He was charged with murder, attempted murder, robbery, illegal gun possession, and related offenses. Authorities alleged that Reeves, Tyree Lennon, Khalif Frezghi, and others were involved in a plan to rob the other side of the firearm transaction, and that the attempted robbery turned into the exchange of gunfire that killed Malik Ballard, Salaah Fleming, and Khalif Frezghi and wounded the surviving 16-year-old.
By May 2024, Reeves and Tyree Lennon had appeared in court on charges tied to the killings. Prosecutors described the case as a gun swap gone wrong and said the shooting was connected to a robbery attempt by people affiliated with a Germantown-based group. At that time, reporting said Taj Lennon and Kevin Yip remained at large. Publicly available reports did not show a conviction for Malik Ballard’s killing, and the case was described as pending trial after arrests were made.
