PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — The man accused of shooting nearly a dozen people, killing five, in Southwest Philadelphia two and a half years ago pleaded guilty on Wednesday in a negotiated deal with prosecutors.
Kimbrady Carriker admitted to the judge he shot and killed Joseph Wamah Jr., 31; Da’Juan Brown, 15; Lyshid Merritt, 21; Ralph Moralis, 59; and Dymir Stanton, 29, in July 2023, and wounded five other people in what prosecutors called “14 minutes of terror” in the Kingsessing neighborhood.
In exchange for pleading guilty to five counts of third-degree murder and five counts of attempted murder, Carriker was sentenced to 37 1/2 to 75 years behind bars.
Prosecutor Bob Wainwright said it came down to a possible insanity defense that could acquit Carriker. “When you have an expert and a potential expert by the commonwealth who are agreeing that he was legally insane, that is something we would have to overcome,” he explained.
Wainwright spoke with the families who weighed their options. “What they wanted was a guilty plea where he took full responsibility for what he did,” he said.
“This is painful to everyone. He needs to get the maximum. Five counts of murder? Come on. No, I don’t think it’s fair but it is what it is,” said Odessa Brown, grandmother of Da’Juan Brown.
“I was there when [Da’Juan] passed, I was there when he said his last words. I was on the ground with him.”
Brown was running to try and save his 13-year-old friend when he was shot. That teen was shot three times in the leg. His father Rafiq Fitzgerald said the plea spared his son.
“Everyday, he is reliving what was going on. He has survivor's remorse,” Fitzgerald said.
Carriker did briefly apologize, claiming that he was trying to “protect” the neighborhood.