At the Philadelphia Obituary Project, we treat homicide victims as individuals rather than statistics. But we are in crisis. The number of people murdered continues to rise, even during the pandemic. And so every month, we will share this data along with the names of each person in one post.
Philadelphia ended its most violent year in decades with a total of 499 homicides, a 40% increase from 2019, according to police records. Murders in Philly haven’t reached that level since 1990, when 500 people were killed.
As the graph below shows, the number of victims increased every month from May through August, dipped in September, then skyrocketed in October. Despite another drop in November, the year ended one victim shy of 500. The first victim of 2021 was killed shortly after midnight on Jan. 1.
Source: Philadelphia Police Department
Here are the names of all the people killed in December, plus when and where. But we know they are not just names. Please contact us at [email protected] if you are a family member of any of these victims so we can properly memorialize them.
For a list of November’s victims, click here. Lists from earlier months can be found here.
Dec. 1: Hassan Muhammad, 40, 2000 block of Albright Street
Dec. 1: Aquil Devero-Braxton, 20, 2700 block of Kenginston Avenue
Dec. 1: Kiara Watkins, 21, 5200 block of Chester Avenue
Dec. 3: Nafiece Tibby, 32, 400 block of West Indiana Avenue
Dec. 3: Tahmair Timms, 14, 5900 block of North Mascher Street (click here to read Tahmair’s obituary)
Dec. 4: Leslie Brown, 48, 3100 block of North Darien Street
Dec. 4: Dejour Holland, 23, 1900 block of Hart Lane
Dec. 5: Isheem Chancy, 19, 5000 block of North 8th Street
Dec. 6: Alisha Dixon, 32, 700 block of West Russell Street
Dec. 7: William Elliot, 36, 3900 block of North Smedley Street
Dec. 8: Jabrail Wyatt, 23, 5500 block of Bloyd Street
Dec. 10: Hasting Hightower, 54, 2300 block of North 30th Street
Dec. 11: Calvin Greene, 32, 2900 block of North 22nd Street
Dec. 11: Thomas Moore, 28, 7000 block of Limekiln Pike
Dec. 11: Akiem Stafford, 29, South 52nd Street and Ranstead Street
Dec. 11: William McDade, 40, 4700 block of Comly Street
Dec. 14: Bachell Handy, 33, 1100 block of South Ruby Street
Dec. 15: Michael Goodman, 27, 200 block of South 52nd Street
Dec. 16: Delaney Carter, 40, 700 block of North Dekalb Street
Dec. 16: Kevin Donnelly, 32, 200 block of West Wingohocking Street
Dec. 16: Corey Jaynes, 30, 2300 block of Tasker Street
Dec. 17: Dajon Delmoral, 31, 2100 block of Master Street
Dec. 20: Travanti Lewis, 31, 200 block of West Lehigh Avenue
Dec. 21: Zachary Graf, 22, 1800 block of East Tusculum Street
Dec. 22: Stephon Wilson, 30, 1700 block of North 31st Street
Dec. 22: Derrick McFarland, 24, 1200 block of North 52nd Street
Dec. 22: Darrell McQueen, 19, 2400 block of West Sergeant Street
Dec. 23: Masai Moore, 20, 3100 block of F Street
Dec. 24: Dyewoo Scruggs, 6300 block of Malvern Avenue
Dec. 24: Thomas Daley, 18, 3200 block of G Street
Dec. 24: Jamil Davis-Hughes, 24, 3500 block of North Randolph Street
Dec. 25: Jeremy Perez, 15, 3300 block of Emerald Street
Dec. 25: Jesus Perez, 44, 3300 block of Emerald Street
Dec. 26: Aelson DeSilva, 38, 1500 block of Hellerman Street
Dec. 27: Nyeem Kitchen, 18, 8500 block of Eastwick Avenue
Dec. 27: Quamir Tunnell, 20, 6200 block of Elmwood Avenue
Dec. 28: Lamont Prophet, 30, 500 block of North Creighton Street
Dec. 28: Tahaim Lacey, 42, 2300 block of North Cleveland Street
Dec. 28: Ebony Kitchen, 24, 5800 block of Rising Sun Avenue
Dec. 29: John Green, 25, 6900 block of Rodney Street
Dec. 29: Frank Smith, 21, 1200 block of South 51st Street
Dec. 30: Alphonzo Anderson, 24, 1100 block of Rosalie Street
Dec. 30: Anthony Harris, 57, 1000 block of West Lehigh Avenue
Dec. 30: Sabir Mack, 15, 1200 block of South 51st Street
Dec. 30: Mario Love, 30, 1400 block of 67th Avenue
Dec. 31: Dylan Smith, 16, 1900 block of 68th Avenue
