South Street mass shooting: 3 suspects appear before judge for preliminary hearing
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- It changed the way police patrolled South Street for much of the summer -- a mass shooting that killed three people and sent crowds scrambling in Philadelphia. Now, the preliminary hearing for the three of the four suspects connected to the South Street shooting in June appeared before a judge Wednesday.
In addition to lawyers, loved ones of the victims -- Alexis Quinn and Kris Minners -- were in the courtroom as well.
The victims' families broke down in tears as the prosecution played video of the shooting. There were actually two separate shootings that unfolded that night.
The first one happened when a group of men who were fighting pulled out a gun and shot each other.
Prosecutors say that led to another group of people down the street to shoot in the direction of the original gunshots, despite there being hundreds of bystanders nearby.
It was an emotional day in court as Tina Quinn sat in the same courtroom as her daughter's accused killer and watched surveillance video of her daughter being gunned down.
"Watching the video, it was kind of emotional," Quinn said, "because I tried to hold it together and be strong."
Alexis Quinn was among the three people killed in a mass shooting on South Street in Philadelphia on June 4 that also injured 11 others.
On Wednesday, three suspects -- Nasir Jackson, Namir Jones and Quran Garner -- appeared before a judge.
"The amount of shots fired, the positioning of the shots, the fact that these two individuals were firing in a crowded street," Joanne Pescatore, the chief of homicide at the Philadelphia District Attorney's Office, said.
During the preliminary hearing, prosecutors played surveillance video showing the shooting and the chaos that followed as hundreds ran from the gunshots.
The court also heard testimony from three police officers and two probation officers.
Outside court, the suspects' family didn't want to talk. But the suspects' lawyers did.
"The testimony of the commonwealth was there were upwards of four shootings in a discrete period of time that night," Mary Moran, who represents Jones, said. "When my client fired, it's clear he was firing in the midst of the chaos and confusion with no real target in mind."
"What he did was reckless," Earl Kauffman, who represents Jackson, said. "He turned around he shot down the block."
Despite the lawyers arguing the charges should be downgraded to third-degree murder, the judge upheld the charges of first-degree murder.
While the case heads to a jury, the victims' families are left grieving.
"My pain is just like terrible. I think it's going to take me a long healing process because I cry at night," Tina Quinn said. "I cry during the daytime. I don't sleep at night."
The prosecution agreed to withdraw charges of aggravated assault against one of the suspects due to lack of evidence.
A fourth suspect, Rashaan Vereen, is scheduled for a preliminary hearing on Sept. 23.
