Two days after a stray bullet allegedly fired by a protector of a group of brawling high school students killed an innocent teenager, Philadelphia Police released an arrest photo of the accused killer.
Darian Person, 19, is accused of killing Aisha Abdur-Rhaman as she walked away from the fight in the Olney section of the city that she had nothing to do with.
Aisha, who was just 15, died Monday afternoon after Person allegedly opened fire during a fight near the Albert Einstein Medical Center. Person was charged in her murder and surrendered to police Tuesday night to face that murder charge, conspiracy, weapons charges and other counts.
"He took somebody's baby away," said Keziah Ridgeway, a teacher who taught the teen girl at Delaware Valley Charter School. "For what? I have two daughters. If it was my daughter I wouldn't be able to breathe."
Friends and family continue to cope with Aisha's death.
"I can't believe it," said Ridgeway. "I'm still in disbelief."
Investigators say a conflict between students at Delaware Valley Charter School led to the deadly shooting. While Aisha attended the school, police said she had nothing to do with the fight that ultimately caused her death.
"Something very small and trivial ultimately led to this young lady being killed," said Philadelphia Police Captain James Clark. "It started with some young ladies having some type of issue then it spread to the guys."
Clark said the conflict continued to escalate into several fights at the school involving students and "people from their neighborhood."
"It became a war over Twitter and Instagram," Clark said. "A lot of threats were made and ultimately they arranged to set up this fight at Broad and Olney which led to the shooting."
Investigators say the two opposing groups met at Broad and Olney around 4 p.m. Monday. Among the group of 20 to 30 people was Person, a high school dropout who Clark said was brought to the fight as "muscle." The two opposing sides began to brawl on the street. As the fight began to die down, the teens then walked about a block down to the 5500 block of Old York Road, according to investigators.
"That's when the second altercation took place," Clark said.
During the second fight, Person allegedly took out a gun and fired three to five shots. One of the bullets traveled a half a block away and struck Abdur-Rhaman in the back as she was walking home with a friend.
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"She was a totally innocent victim," Clark said.
Aisha ran about a half a block before collapsing on the curb outside Einstein Hospital. Medics rushed her into the emergency room where she died a short time later.
A 19-year-old man was also struck in the chest during the shooting. He was taken to Einstein Hospital where in critical but stable condition. Investigators are unsure whether he was also an innocent bystander or involved in the fight.
Person remained behind bars Wednesday after being denied bail, according to court records.
