A Delaware County "sport killer" with a violent history also believed to be responsible for a slew of sex assaults in Philadelphia was facing murder charges Wednesday.
Delaware County District Attorney Jack Whelan joined Yeadon, Pennsylvania and Philadelphia police to announce charges in the throat slashing murder of a Yeadon woman, another throat slashing and a series of a sex assaults in Philadelphia's Kensington neighborhood, calling the suspect "probably the most dangerous criminal I've ever seen in my years here in Delaware County."
Byron Allen, 37, of 73rd Street in Philadelphia is charged with first-degree murder in the Sept. 22 killing of Natasha Gibson on the front porch of a home along Baily Road near Orchard Avenue.
"He brutally attacked and murdered Miss Gibson," said Whelan. Prosecutors said robbery wasn't the motive for the deadly attack where Gibson was stabbed about 20 times. There appeared to be no connection between Gibson and Allen.
"The sport of killing was the motive in this particular crime," said Whelan. "We believe Byron Allen randomly selected this young innocent woman as his victim, following her in the dark of night and ruthlessly stabbing her multiple times on the front steps of her friend’s home."
Investigators followed a blood trail for more nearly two miles into Upper Darby and ultimately Southwest Philadelphia. It was there, at 61st and Baltimore, where they found a bloody steak knife -- the murder weapon -- in a storm drain, said Whelan. The victim's purse was found a block away, and in that same area, Yeadon Police Chief Donald Molineux said.
At the time, investigators released surveillance video of a person of interest. Investigators said the man in the surveillance video was bleeding from his hand when he walked into a store to get a can of Steel Reserve beer. The time stamp on the video -- 12:34 a.m. -- was after Gibson's murder, according to police. He came into the store from one direction and left in another. [[394633051,C]]
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DNA evidence linked Allen to Gibson's murder and other cases, said prosecutors. Gibson has previously pleaded guilty to a slew of charges in a 2002 attempted murder. He was released in 2015, said Whelan.
"And he begins a brand new crime spree," said Whelan.
Over the summer, police released surveillance video of a man who may be responsible for attacks on women in the Kensington section of Philadelphia.
The video shows a man walking in and out of a convenience store on the 3900 block of Torresdale Avenue on July 12. Police said the man later approached a 24-year-old woman from behind while riding a blue and black mountain bike. He grabbed the woman and choked her until she became unconscious, according to investigators. [[387692972, C]]
When the woman woke up she was naked in the back of a property located on 3800 Jasper Street. She suffered head and facial injuries.
Investigators said the same suspect is also connected to the throat-slashing of a woman at Braddock and Toronto streets in Philadelphia in April. In that case the woman had her throat slashed with a box cutter. She spent several weeks recovering at the hospital, said police.
Allen is also responsible for a Jasper Street sex assault and a third sex assault along Ruth Street in October, said Philadelphia Police.
Police used surveillance video from the attacks to track down Allen who was charged in October with the Braddock Street attack. He was charged on Dec. 19 with the three sex assaults, said police.
