On a late Wednesday night in May 2016, 19-year-old Terron L. Phillips was walking home after buying a pack of cigarettes from a gas station in East Camden, New Jersey. His path was tragically intercepted when a red SUV carrying four young men approached him. This encounter would abruptly end his life in what authorities described as a random act of violence during a two-hour crime spree.
The occupants of the vehicle, ranging in age from 16 to 19, set out that night to commit a series of
robberies. Before their fatal encounter with Phillips, they had already targeted three other individuals, firing shots in each instance, though miraculously not hitting anyone. When they spotted Phillips leaving the gas station, they chose him as their next victim. Two of the teenagers, 18-year-old Raquan Handon and a 16-year-old wielding a sawed-off shotgun, exited the SUV to rob Phillips. After telling them he had nothing, Handon searched his pockets and found only the newly purchased cigarettes.
As Handon walked back to the vehicle with the cigarettes, the 16-year-old inexplicably fired the shotgun, striking Phillips in the chest at approximately 1:32 a.m. on May 18th. Phillips was rushed to Cooper University Hospital, where he was pronounced dead just 13 minutes later. He did not resist his attackers, making his death even more senseless to investigators and his grieving family.
The investigation quickly led to the identification and arrest of the four individuals involved. Authorities charged Aaron Swann, 19, Ashan Thomas, 19, and Raquan Handon, 18, with murder. The alleged shooter was a 16-year-old from Merchantville, later identified as Christian Ortiz. All four were implicated in the robbery spree that terrorized Camden that night. Eventually, Christian Ortiz pleaded guilty to aggravated manslaughter for his role in the shooting and was sentenced to 26 years in state prison.
