Philly DA: Decades in prison for man who killed 3 teens

Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner and members of the Philadelphia District Attorney's Office Homicide and Non-Fatal Shootings Unit announced that a 22-year-old man who, officials said, pleaded guilty to shooting and killing three teenagers in 2021 has been sentenced to serve at least four decades in prison.

The District Attorney's Office said the convicted killer, Arshad Curry, also pleaded guilty to wounding two other people.

He was sentenced to spend 42-and-a-half to 85 years in prison, according to court documents.

On Monday, Krasner said that Curry was a member of a gang known as the "Young Bag Chasers," a group that the District Attorney said was "so dangerous" that a person who visited the sentencing hearing in support of Curry was arrested in the courtroom for an open murder warrant.

Krasner said that Curry was the fifth member of this gang that his office has secured a conviction on.

"As we call them, you’ve been convicted," said Krasner. "They used to call themselves 'Young Bag Chasers.' They aren't chasing much inside those cells anymore."

Krasner said that with Curry's conviction and others in the same group, the community where this gang was alleged to have operated has seen improvements as law enforcement officials have broken up the gang.

“What we are seeing is that, when you dismantle at least part, the core, of one of these groups, the consequence in the neighborhood is really significant," he said. "If you can catch that small number of individuals that are doing so much harm, you can make a tremendous difference in the lives of people who just want to live in safety and peace."

According to Krasner's office, Curry pleaded guilty to killings that happened in July and September of 2021.

Curry pleaded to the July 21, 2021 slayings of Tommie Frazier, 18 and Kaylin Johnson, 16, whose car, Assistant District Attorney Cydney Pope said Curry followed in a van after they left a school in West Philadelphia on their way to basketball practice.

Curry shot them both at 56th and Vine streets, Pope said.

"They stop at the stoplight at 56th and Vine and Arshad opens a van door and sprays a vehicle with 10 millimeter rounds," she said.

The shooting killed Frazier, Johnson and injured another person.

However, she said neither of the victims were Curry's intended target. Instead, Curry was targeting a fourth person who was in the vehicle with them, but was not harmed.

Curry was also convicted in the Sept. 16, 2021 slaying of 16-year-old Sidney Sessoms. Pope said that Curry walked onto the porch of Sessoms Port Richmond home that night, he shot and wounded Sessoms' father.

When the teen victim came running check on his father, Pope said, Curry shot Sessoms in the chest.

During Monday's press event, Emily Johnson, the mother of Kaylin Johnson, discussed the loss of her only child.

"This one crime took nine people off the street," she said, noting several others were arrested in that incident. "Who's winning? We literally lost a whole generation of kids out here. For what?"

"The only person winning right now is the city morgue and the funeral home," Johnson said.

This is a breaking news story. It will be updated as new information becomes available.