A gang member, connected to three shootings within the City of Brotherly Love, received corresponding sentences for his crimes. A formally impacted community is also now experiencing a slow decline of gang activity, bringing more peace to the area the member once controlled. NBC10’s Miguel Martinez-Valle has the details.
A Philadelphia man was sentenced for his involvement in multiple shootings, including one at a holiday block party that left two people dead in 2021.
Jalen Mickens - who was a part of the violent 02da4 and FSB gangs operating mainly in West Philadelphia - was convicted last October for his role in a series of shooting incidents, according to the district attorney's office.
Police said one of the shootings took place on July 4, 2021, during a cookout where Mickens and others fired more than 100 gunshots into a crowd where they believed rival gang members were hanging out.
Instead, they killed beloved West Philadelphia businessmen and community members, 23-year-old Sircarr Johnson Jr. and 21-year-old Salahaldin Mahmoud, respectively.
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Johnson had been hosting a free BBQ and was celebrating the anniversary of his clothing store.
The district attorney's office said the fashion designer and business owner were not the intended targets and had no ties to the ongoing gang war that led to the shooting.
District Attorney Larry Krasner said that this sentencing along with the arrest of multiple members of the groups known as 02da4 and FSB have led to a 24 percent reduction in shootings in the 18th district and a 19 percent reduction in the 19th district.
"This sentencing is a tribute to the value of forensics," Krasner said. "It is a tribute to the value of deep-dive investigations."
Krasner added the teamwork between police and his gun violence force has put an end to those two gangs in the area.
In 2021 NBC10 spoke to Johnson's father Sircarr Johnson Sr. just hours after he witnessed his son's death. Friday, he didn't want to comment after the sentencing but he did have a few words for Mickens in court.
"Every day you're going to think about it like I do. Saying the same thing, I wish I didn't do it," Johnson Sr. said.
Mickens pleaded guilty to two counts of murder, conspiracy and assault changes. He has now been sentenced to 22.5 to 50 years in prison.
The second defendant in this case still has to go to trial.
There are additional resources for people or communities that have endured gun violence in Philadelphia. Further information can be found here.
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