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Frankford family says they’re fighting to get squatters out of their home – Story | WTXF

A Frankford family with a house on the 5300 block Akron Street says they’re fighting to get squatters out of their home.  Read the rest of the all too familiar story at the link below.

Photo from Google Street View

Source: Frankford family says they’re fighting to get squatters out of their home – Story | WTXF

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The Killing Streets

There have been 11 homicides in Frankford so far, this year.

Below are listed the names of the people who were victims of homicide and the circumstances of the crime that took their lives.  They were people with futures and possibilities that were lost the instant they died.  They left wives, parents, children and friends behind.  They should not be anonymous nor forgotten and we should not accept these deaths as normal.

Eric Robinson, 35, (no picture available) was talking to a woman on the sidewalk outside of a business about 8:30 PM on the 4500 block of Melrose Street on Thursday, January 12th.  A man, who had been waiting inside the business then exited and fired 7 shots, killing him. No arrest has been made in this case.

Emanuel Ervin, 21-year-old father of a 4 year old son, was shot in the head, neck and chest on Tuesday, January 31st at about 9 PM at 4825 Tackawanna Street.  He was taken to Einstein Hospital where he later died.  No arrest has been made in this case.

Emanuel Ervin – photo from the Philadelphia Obituary Project

Harold Aiken, 23, was shot in the head and hand on Tuesday, April 4th, on the 2000 block of Bridge Street at about 9:15 PM.  He was rushed to Aria Hospital Torresdale where he died the next day. No arrest has been made in this case.

Harold Aiken- photo from the Philadelphia Obituary Project

Kenyon Childs, 27 years old, died of injuries when he was shot multiple times in the head and torso at about 11:20 AM on the 1300 block of Bridge Street near Oakland on June 19th at about 7:20 AM.  He lived on the 5300 block of Castor Avenue.  No arrest has been made in this case.

Kenyon Childs- photo from the Philadelphia Obituary Project

Kristian Scott, (no picture available) 24 year old father of a 3 year old son, was walking along Torresdale Avenue near Scattergood Street on Wednesday, June 21st at about 9:30 PM when someone came up to him and fired 3 shots with 2 of them hitting him in the chest.  Officers took him to Aria Health-Torresdale where he died the next morning.  No arrest has been made in this case.

Robert DePaul, 45, and August Dempsey, 42, were a couple who were shot by their next-door neighbor on July 15th at about 10 PM on the 4700 block of James Street.  Kenneth D. Hoyle has been arrested and charged.

August Dempsey and Robert DePaul from Facebook

Michelle Saint-Aude, 25, (no picture available) was shot several times by a former boyfriend on July 18th at about 1:10 PM on the 1200 block of Sanger Street.  She was transported to Einstein Hospital where she was pronounced dead.  The shooter was identified by police and after a 7 hour standoff, took his own life.

Jose Reyes, 37, (no picture available) was on the 1600 block of Margaret Street on July 16th at about 9:25 PM when he was shot and killed in an apparent robbery.  No arrest has been made in this case.

Jamie Ricks, 54 year old father of two, was shot and killed in an apparent attempted robbery on Friday, September 1st at 1:15 AM on his way home from work.  No arrest has been made in this case.

Jamie Ricks and son Riley at St. Joachim Church in 2013

Michael Jones, 25, (no picture available) was shot and killed on the 1500 block of Dyre Street right at the 7-Eleven on Frankford Avenue.  Kevin Robinson, age 20,  was arrested by Officer Hugo Lemos for this crime on October 4th.  He is being held at the Curran-Fromhold Corrections Facility.  He had previously been arrested on the 5200 block of Frankford Avenue on May 26th for a narcotics violation and on August 17 of 2016 for Robbery on the 4700 block of Griscom Street.

 You can see that no arrest has been made in most of these cases.  If you have information about any of these crimes, you can make an anonymous tip. Call 215.686.TIPS (8477) or email tips@phillypolice.com. Include as many details as you can.

Information for this story came from news reports, the Philadelphia Police Department and the Philadelphia Obituary Project.

 

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Squatters Hop All Around

If you follow Facebook, you may have seen the Squatters reality show last week on Northwood Neighbors Channel.  Follow this link.

There were some folks who took up residence in 1134 Wakeling Street.  The owner and neighbors took offense and after a protracted period of trying to get them evicted they were successful.  At last week’s PSA1 meeting, we had an extensive discussion about this issue and the right way to go about it.

This week those same folks have apparently taken up residence at 5014 Saul Street.  That one is owned by the VA.

So what does this mean to you.  Well the taking over of a property that does not belong to you is a crime, at the very least Criminal Trespass and do you want to live with people who would do that?  One day they are in the house next door and the next day they might be in yours.

What can you do?   You do not have to confront the trespassers but you do have to become a royal pain in the butt to the people in the city who enforce the rules.  So you call 311 and you call the police and Jason Dawkins and John Taylor and Tina Tartaglione and Maria Quinonnes-Sanchez and you communicate with your neighbors on Facebook and Nextdoor..  The next day you call them all back again and you have your neighbors do the same.

I do recommend Facebook for neighborhood communication, it was very helpful to the neighbors in communicating about the problem.