What to Know
- Two men and two women were found shot in the head in the basement of a home along Malcolm Street in Southwest Philadelphia Monday.
- The four were killed execution-style after being "led down to the basement," Police Commissioner Richard Ross said.
- Police have not identified a motive or any suspects.
The family of Tiyaniah Hopkins, one of the victims in the brutal, execution-style murder of two men and two women in a Southwest Philadelphia basement Monday, said Hopkins went to hang out with the other victims that night.
Her uncle said Tiyaniah called him on the phone hours before she went over to the house where she and three others were murdered.
"She called me to check in on me. She always called to check on me," Tiyaniah's uncle, Timothy Hopkins, told NBC10. "She said, 'I love you, Uncle Tim.' And that was it."
Hopkins, who was 20, William (Maurice) Taylor, 31; his half-brother Akeem Mattox, 28; and 17-year-old Yaleah Hall all died in the home, police said.
Each person, found just after noon in a home along the 5100 block of Malcolm Street, just off Baltimore Avenue, was shot in the head, police have said.
Preliminary information made it appear the victims were "led down to the basement" then each shot in the head, police said.
Sources told NBC10 there was no forced entry into the home, no signs of a struggle, no weapons recovered and no witnesses.
Just saw bodies of 4 young people, who were executed in a rowhouse on 5100 Malcolm St. It is the worst crime scene I have seen in my 20 years w/ the PPD. It is going to take everyone in this city to reduce this senseless violence. My thoughts and prayers are with their families.
— Derrick Wood (@PPDDerrickWood) November 19, 2018
"That's what's so absolutely evil about it that you would take people downstairs and absolutely execute them," a "heart-broken" Police Commissioner Richard Ross said Tuesday.
Taylor and Mattox were living in the home while it was being renovated, according to police. Family members described the two men as loving fathers.
A neighbor heard loud bangs late Sunday night and thought it to be construction work at the property, Ross said. Investigators believe those sounds could have been the fatal gunshots.
There's no word yet on a motive for the shooting or any identified suspects.
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"We're hoping that we will get some tips to get us some direction because we absolutely have to bring this person or persons to justice," Ross said. "We can't have individuals like this walking the streets."
Tuesday night, loved ones released balloons in honor of Mattox. His mother, stepfather and siblings stood before the crowd, overwhelmed by their support.
"My nieces have lost their father," Mattox's sister said. "When is this going to stop?"
The victims' young daughters attended Tuesday's tribute.
"They're crying for all day long," the girls' grandmother, Harriet Rice, told NBC10. "They want their dad. They want to see their dad. They ask can they see him again."
