2 found guilty in murder of Philadelphia teacher at Dunkin' drive-thru in Montgomery County
NORRISTOWN, Pa. (CBS) — A man and a woman were found guilty of first-degree murder for fatally shooting a Philadelphia teacher at a Dunkin' drive-thru in Cheltenham Township, Montgomery County, in April 2023 as part of a monthlong murder-for-hire plot.
Julie Jean, of Elkins Park, and Zakkee Alhakim, of Philadelphia, were convicted of killing Rachel King, a beloved teacher at Grover Cleveland Elementary School, on April 11, 2023.
King was driving her son to violin practice when she stopped at the Dunkin' in Cheltenham, where Alhakim got out of his car, walked up to King's Ford Edge and fired multiple times, police said.
According to police, Jean and Alhakim planned King's murder since February 2023. Jean was having an affair with King's boyfriend at one point, but he broke it off. Prosecutors said Jean then began harassing King and her boyfriend, and her boyfriend was granted a Protection From Abuse Order against Jean in December 2022.
The criminal complaint also said Jean deleted nearly 800 text messages from her phone minutes before meeting with detectives. Alhakim had an image on his phone showing a map of where King lived, according to the prosecutor.
"I've seen a lot of horrible and even horrific homicides, evil homicides in my nearly 30 years of doing this as a prosecutor," Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele said last year. "And suffice it to say, I am struggling with this one, where a truly innocent woman is targeted in a long, planned murder all because of an ended affair. It's hard to come to grips with."
Parents of King's students said she made a big impact on their children's lives.
