PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA: Shocking information has been revealed about one of the five victims of a mass shooting allegedly carried out by Kimbrady Carriker. Joseph Wamah Jr, who was earlier named as one of the five dead people from the attack in the Kingsessing neighborhood on the eve of Fourth of July, is now said to have been murdered around two days before the mass shooting incident.
Carriker allegedly killed Lashyd Merritt, 20, Dymir Stanton, 29, Ralph Moralis, 59, and Daujan Brown, 15, and wounded two others, when the country was busy preparing for Independence Day. As per an update by police in Philadelphia, Wamah Jr, 31, thought to have been killed at the same time as the other victims, was apparently murdered 44 hours before the mass slaying, Daily Beast reported.
Who was Joseph Wamah Jr?
As per Wamah Jr's LinkedIn page, he was a creative director, actor, and artist. His grieving sister Josephine Wamah said, "I'm going to miss that beautiful smile, I really am. He had the best hugs, he took care of his family. I don't understand how someone could do this to my brother. Like, he -- I really love him." "The fact that you did this to us for your own agenda, for your own reason, is really pissing me off. Why did you have to do this to us?" she asserted. Another sister of Wamah Jr, Jasmine, added, "You killed the wrong person, you killed the wrong man."
'The investigation of this horrifying tragedy is active'
The 31-year–old reportedly lost his life at around 12.30 am on the night of Sunday, July 2. District Attorney Larry Krasner said, "Forensic medical examination corroborates that Mr. Wamah was killed long before the other victims were harmed ... Additional evidence supports the conclusion that Kimbrady Carriker murdered Wamah on July 2nd and that Carriker also murdered and wounded multiple other victims on July 3rd," on a media release. Krasner went on to say, "The grieving family of the deceased has been briefed on this new information, and I cannot express enough the sorrow I feel -- and that surely all the officers and detectives working on this investigation must feel -- that these developments may be confusing and re-traumatizing for Mr. Wamah's loved ones."
"This new information, however, has not changed the number or type of charges we have filed against defendant Carriker: the Commonwealth alleges that he is responsible for the death of Mr. Wamah on July 2, 2023. This new information will lead the Commonwealth to amend or modify the timing alleged in the complaint against Carriker for the murder of Mr. Wamah from July 3, 2023, to July 2, 2023," the District Attorney shared before adding, "As the DA's Office and the Philadelphia Police Department made clear throughout last week, the investigation of this horrifying tragedy is active, ongoing, and will continue throughout the course of our prosecution of this defendant." Meanwhile, some reports state that Carriker is being held behind bars without the possibility of bail after being slapped with five counts of murder, five counts of attempted murder, and related crimes.