PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — A teenager charged in connection with the killing of a West Philadelphia recreation center employee in 2022 pleaded guilty Friday to some of the charges.
Malik Flegler, now 18, admitted to being in the Mill Creek Recreation Center near 47th and Brown streets on Sept. 9, 2022, where 41-year-old Tiffany Fletcher was shot in the stomach by a stray bullet and later died at the hospital.
Prosecutors say Flegler was with another teen who got into a shootout with then-14-year-old Makie Jones. They say Flegler is seen on video standing as if he were shooting a gun, but officials did not find any gun shell casings or bullets near where he was — though they do believe he had a firearm.
They say Jones was arrested at the scene and Flegler and the other teen took off running.
Authorities say they later found a shell casing inside Flegler’s home, which matched ballistics at the scene, but believe it was the teen he was with who ended up shooting Fletcher.
Flegler pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit third-degree murder, reckless endangerment and gun charges and will be sentenced in September. He is expected to spend decades in prison.
Jones pleaded guilty in May and was sentenced to 10-25 years in prison.
The other teen who they believe shot Fletcher has not been arrested.